The Lady Revan
by ProfessorScrooge
Summary: A different Revan fights against the Sith, with a checkered past she is still remembering, and born from two of the galaxy's greatest warrior races. Alexa Fett balances on a knife edge between light and dark, and the memories implanted in her by the Jedi. Alien!Revan, Fem!RevanxBastila, AU, OOC. Based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Right to start off with, this is following a Revan of my own creation, I'm just working with bits from the game swkotor and my own ideas, revolving around FemRevanxBastila. That's going to be the pairing, eventually, but arcing towards that is a goal. Characters may be slightly OOC at times, but this is again, just my own imaginings. Also, I would heavily advise having played kotor before reading this, otherwise you may not get a lot of things I may not bother describing. Oh, and importantly, only saying this once:**

 **Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING, Star Wars is property of its respective owners and this is just me playing around with my own little fantasies in the realm of non-profit fanfiction.**

The Lady Revan

Dreams. Every night dreams came and haunted Alexa's mind, of images, people and places that made little to no sense. Hazy images of seemingly unconnected events that cycled through her head every night. There were ones of harsh words shouted at her while she cowered in a corner, of standing by women in red moving in perfect sequence, of a man in yellow armour yelling at her for her failings and the phantom arcs of pain that spiked up her spine in conjunction with his bellowing.

And then there was the one she kept returning to: the woman. This woman in front of her, dressed in robes with a yellow-bladed double-sided lightsaber. Words were spoken between them, but lost to Alexa's ears. The woman looked to be shouting, then everything faded to harsh pain, and she woke up in a cold sweat as she did now, crashing back to reality.

Deep breaths calmed her lungs as she sat up in a bed, in a compact cabin-like space. She kneaded her temples with her fingers as her head ached with the weight of her visions, trying to reassert who she was. Her name…. was Alexa Varos. The name seemed right and yet wrong at the same time, everything was so hazy. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood, vaguely pressing a light switch by the bed. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. This was her cabin, on a Republic ship, the ' _Endar Spire'_. She'd been moved here a week ago, to being under command of some Jedi named Bastila Shan, that much was clear, she remembered getting on-board. Anything before that were hazy, vague memories of fighting on a battlefield, using a sword in hand against black-suited soldiers, but nothing just quite felt right.

Why was she here? She couldn't even remember joining any army, yet she had these memories of fighting on the battlefields, and here she was, a Captain wasn't she?

Alexa sighed and examined herself in the full length mirror her cramped cabin had come with. Her very pale, white skin highly contrasted the black of her simple undergarments. Her body was tall and lean, well-toned muscles coating her athletic frame. She was relatively easy-on-the-eye beyond her lithe body, her sleek stomach made a curve down to her hips, accentuated by her B-cup breasts, while her face was relatively beautiful, with high cheekbones, and stormy grey eyes, all framed by long, raven-black hair that cascaded down her shoulders and most of her back. What really set her apart from many were the markings covering her face, neither tattoo nor makeup. Light grey framed the top of her eyes, flicking upwards on the outside, and slightly down to her nose, they made up for her lack of eyebrows. Starting underneath both her ears were two harsh straight lines across her cheeks, sloping down slightly and ending halfway towards her ruby-red lips. Also pointing to those lips was an upside down, darker grey 'V' shape on her chin, that continued down until the lines tapered to her collarbone, where they flipped backwards over her shoulders to continue an intricate pattern nature had weaved all over her back. A few smaller markings covered her body in various places, in patterns unique to her. There was an odd bump on the back of her neck as well, that flickered with an old sense of pain when she touched it, a slight hole at the centre. And then of course there were the less natural characteristics of her form. Hard to see against her pale skin, she was marred with scars all over herself, many long and cruel slashes, and some deeper inflictions that looked more like stabbings, though the silvery lines were difficult to discern except under direct light. But what felt strange to Alexa were her arms, and what was on them. Tattooed in black ink on her right forearm was a five letter word in flowing script of an alien language that she felt should make sense but was entirely incomprehensible to her. There were three separate lines of writing in the same script on her left shoulder, just as incomprehensible. And finally was something that made anger boil in the pit of her stomach every time she saw it. Fully branded into the skin of her right shoulder was a symbol of a double helix, split lengthways by a dashed straight line, and below that the numbers "1472" in galactic basic. Her hand subconsciously traced the permanent burn marks as that same anger bubbled in the pit of her soul once more.

How did she gain these markings? Surely she should remember getting tattooed, and branding is hardly something you forget. Her life seemed a mess, a mix of dreams and half-memories until solid sureness with her arrival on this ship a week ago, anything before that a complex haze. Everything in her rocked around as she tried to make sense of herself for not the first time that week. No, wait, it wasn't Alexa moving, it was the ship itself! She stumbled as the ship rocked once more, and she definitely heard the faint sound of an explosion somewhere.

Cursing vehemently she moved into action, grabbing a black band from the bedside table, she grasped and threaded her hair through it to form the long ponytail she preferred as her signature look, damning every precious moment it took her.

The ship rocked again, causing Alexa to sway while leaning to open the footlocker by her bed that contained her armour. She steadied herself and managed to pull out the red and white armoured battle-suit. She hastily pulled on the armour, ignoring how constricting the padding felt where it restricted her movement, honestly, who designed these? She shoved on her simple pair of black boots that completed the uniform.

From within the locker she took the long-sword and normal-length sword and clasped them to her belt where they belonged. She also slipped a pistol in its holster to the back of her belt, being prepared was always a good thing, preparing for any eventuality could save your life.

As the door hissed open behind her, Alexa spun swiftly drawing both her blades to level them at the man in the doorway who looked fairly surprised.

"State your name, rank, and intention," her voice clearly cut through the air, enunciating each syllable. The man visibly gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing as he looked at the sharp metal pointed in his direction.

"Trask Ulgo, Ensign of the Republic fleet," he rattled off, "I'm here to find you. We need to get to the escape pods, the Sith are attacking." He wasn't lying, of that she was sure. She could always tell when people were, call it a good sense of judgement or innate ability, but she could.

"Then I guess we'd better get moving." She lowered her swords, but did not sheathe them. She was probably going to need them yet.

It took a moment for her words to register in Trask, but he then nodded, and started down the white corridor outside her cabin. The man pulled out a mid-sized blaster as he peeked around a corner, scouting for enemies. Alexa simply strode past him, if there were going to be people ahead, they would fight them regardless of if they tiptoed or not. Trask however didn't look too happy when he jogged past her to stand next to a door in their way.

"You know I've seen plenty of rookies get killed by walking into a fight," his gruff voice was laced with disapproval.

"I'm not a rookie," she simply stated, standing in front of the same door, the motion sensors opening it for her. As they slid open, they revealed the four black-clad soldiers on the other side.

Alexa didn't even blink as she went into action, pushing herself forward to stab her short sword into the first man's chest before he could react, pulling it out and slashing towards the next nearest man with her long-sword, her blow taking his head as he tried to unsheathe his own weapon. The remaining two had drawn their own swords in two handed grips, so they were waiting for her advance. The man on the right tried to charge at her, but she took her sword and deflected his blow to the left, leaving her free arm with her long-sword to swoop in and slit his throat. That same slash came around and took the force of the blow the other soldier had been starting to make, and which slid off down the curved blade to the left. She expertly switched her shorter blade to backhand and pushed his sword at the crosshair up and to the side, leaving him defenceless below, an opportunity she exploited by giving him a brutal kick just below his knee, causing the man to stagger. As he tried to right himself, she simply plunged her long-sword into the soft flesh above his collarbone, ending his life. The man's body slumped to the floor as she withdrew her blood-soaked blade.

She turned to face Trask, who was gaping slightly at her quick dispatching of the four soldiers. She was going to make a comment about hurrying up when her communicator began beeping, along with Trask's own. She pressed the button on her wrist to open the pending line.

"This is Carth Onasi, the Sith are overwhelming our position. Everyone to the escape pods, I repeat, everyone to the escape pods." A male voice sounded, the name was vaguely familiar, though she couldn't remember where from.

"You heard the man, let's go," she said to the still-gaping soldier, turning back to face the corridor and walking quickly up towards the next doorway, which obligingly opened before her. The doorway led to two possible paths, an open corridor to the left, and one straight ahead in which blue blade duelled against red. A female Jedi was fighting against a man dressed in the black robes of a Dark Jedi of the Sith army, however Alexa did note the lack of markings that identified him merely as an apprentice.

"Come on, we can find another way around. This fight's not for us." Trask said as he started down the left hand corridor, Alexa however moved forwards towards the duel.

"To Hell with that," she muttered. Her dash was stopped however by the ship shaking again from the bombardment it was doubtlessly suffering, everyone staggered slightly in response. Alexa saw in slow motion the Dark Jedi use the fact his opponent was disoriented to slash down on her wrist, cutting away the use of her lightsaber. The woman cried out at the loss of her hand, but was swiftly silenced by the red blade plunging into her chest. He turned to face Alexa and smiled, holding his blade loosely to the side he advanced on her. _Sloppy form, arrogant_ , flashed through her mind as he approached.

As they met he made a lazy slash at her with his lightsaber, she slipped underneath it, sliding to her knees on the polished floor, and sending her short blade into the attack, not on him as such, but his lightsaber. His weapon was more dangerous than he was. He hadn't even considered that she might go for his lightsaber in avoiding his attack, and her sword-blade easily sliced through the metal cylinder, cutting off the shaft of red light, and then going on to embed itself in his hand. He cried out much as his last victim had.

"You bitch," he growled out, and was doubtless about to try and attack her bare handed before he noticed her long-sword buried in his stomach. He had a look of surprise on his face as Alexa pushed him, making him fall backwards to the floor. Alexa slowly stood and looked upon the man as his blood pooled over the white floor.

"Di'kut," she muttered, and spat on his limp form. Underestimation of opponents was overconfidence, which was arrogant. And that just meant you'd get yourself killed; a suitable end for a foolish man. She stepped over his body and made for the door ahead.

"How far to the escape pods?" she threw back over her shoulder, not turning to look at Trask. There was silence for a long moment before he answered.

"Far side of the next room," his voice was quiet, he certainly seemed to be surprised by her actions.

Alexa walked up to the door to the room in question, and waited for it to be opened. She once more settled into a combat stance as soon as it slid away, opening into a large square room where five Sith troopers with their backs to Alexa were finishing off two Republic soldiers, who stood by the dead forms of their comrades. As she prepared to rush in, a grenade was thrown at the remaining men, killing both and one of the Sith's own. One of the black-clad men openly laughed at the small victory they had achieved, he was the first to be felled by her blades, and each of the others was dispatched efficiently.

Alexa took a moment to spare a look down at the men whose blood marred the floor. How often had she seen familiar sights? Images flashed before her eyes of corpses, bodies, endless dead men and women. She shook her head to clear those thoughts, now was not the time.

The door before them opened up to reveal a man with brown hair and stubble, wearing light armour, and with two pistols hanging from his belt.

"Hurry, there's only one escape pod left." His voice identified him as Carth Onasi, the man who was second in command to the Jedi Bastila, Alexa remembered.

"Not so fast," a malevolent voice called behind them. Alexa quickly spun, readying her swords.

In the square room was a bald man, with rough facial hair, light armour and robes in black, and a lit red lightsaber clasped in one hand. The corruption of dark side energies rolled off him so much Alexa could swear she could physically feel it. And it felt decidedly all too familiar. Surprisingly Trask was the one who reacted first.

"Go!" he yelled at them, and fired a single blaster bolt at the door controls, causing the doors to hiss shut. Alexa stumbled backwards from the doorway to avoid being hit, before realising that she had moved back into the place being sealed. She gave a cry of rage and beat a fist on the door angrily at the stupid old man. He wouldn't last a minute against that Sith.

"Look, he's given us time. We should honour his sacrifice, and go while we still can." The words made sense to her, and she reluctantly accepted them. She turned back to Carth, and together they stepped into the cramped escape pod.

The hatch closed, and the walls vibrated as they jettisoned away. Words echoed in her mind as she stared back at the fading Endar Spire: ' _Duty above all, until Death claims us_.'

 **A/N: First chap, cutting it off there because I feel it's the right place to. Hopefully the next one will be a bit longer. Until then.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter two, and for the language I'm using with Alexa you may have noticed briefly in the last chap (congratulations if you know what it is without looking it up), I'll put translations or straight up put in English with** _(translation)_ **style**

Chapter Two

" _Adiik!"_ (child) _the shout coincided with electric pain lacing up Alexa's spine, dim knowledge of a man in yellow armour before her as the lightning agony let up, trying to struggle to her feet. He looked down upon her, his grizzled face scowling, giving a kick to her aching side to push her up. "Nar dralshy'a!"_ (try harder) _he yelled, "mhi ba'juri verde, ni ge'verd."_ (we raise our children as warriors, not 'almost-warriors')

 _Alexa struggled to her feet and grasped the long metal staff to herself as the man readied his own. "Nari!"_ (move it) _and Alexa ran forward in desperation, thrusting the staff towards him._

 _##############################################################################################################_

Her body jumped upwards as she woke from the dream, into an unfamiliar space, and an unfamiliar bed. Alexa pushed aside the nagging ache in her head, and the dream she'd just had to concentrate on the unfamiliar environment.

She was in a bed, one of two, in a fairly large white walled room. One exit, no windows, one other person in there with her. Some vague part of her brain pulled up a name for the man cleaning a blaster pistol; Carth Onasi.

"Oh, you're awake," Carth said once he saw her sitting up, however he didn't sound overly pleased about it. In fact, he was actually looking slightly suspicious. "You got knocked unconscious during the drop through the atmosphere. I dragged you from the pod, and got us holed up in here. We're on a planet named Taris. This is the Low City; apparently the law doesn't care that much about what goes on down here."

Alexa nodded briefly, and looked down at herself for any injuries. She had none that she could see, and gladly she was still wearing her armour; having to deal with Onasi if he had taken it off her would have been annoying. She shifted her legs over the side of the bed, her right hand cradling her head a bit at the persistent ache.

"What happened to everyone else?" she asked, there were several other escape pods fired.

"Crash landed somewhere or other. We need to find Bastila, she's a vital part of the Republic war effort."

"Vital? How is one Jedi vital?"

"You didn't know? Her battle meditation lets her command an entire fleet telepathically, co-ordinating them all."

"Useful trick," she grunted, getting up from the bed. Injured she may not have been, but she did have plenty of aches. She did a few stretches, loosening up her lithe body.

"Also, forgot to mention, we might have a few complications," Carth spoke up after a moment; she noticed that he was eyeing her stretching slightly. ' _Men_ ' she thought briefly, ' _too caught up in looking at a woman to mention important things_.'

"And what are those complications?"

"Sith ships overhead, and an occupation of the city." She looked up at him, and stopped stretching.

"To what extent?"

"A full blockade of the planet above, including the flagship of the fleet, and full military occupation of the city. They're actively searching for all Republic survivors."

"So we're being hunted, we have no idea where to find this Bastila, we have no way off planet, and even if we did, we'd be shot out of the sky. Did I miss anything?"

"No, that's basically it. Darth Malak really wants Bastila bad."

 _Malak_ …the name echoed around inside her skull, a face soon matched the name from somewhere in her memories: a pale, bald man, with dark marks on his head, and cybernetic implants where his mouth once was.

"Well, there's no time like the present. We should start by finding out anything we can about the city, and whatever may have happened to the pods. We'll have to work from there." Carth stared at her for a long moment before replying.

"Seems like a solid enough plan," was all he said, but she could tell he was staying silent about something.

"Okay, are we going to have a problem? Because if we are, I'd rather have it over and done with now." Carth gave her a hard look, before sighing, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"I just…I don't like that you were transferred, last minute request by the Jedi, and then our ship gets attacked by the Sith."

"What, you think I'm in league with the Sith?" her expression was incredulous, where had he pulled that one from?

"I just…no, I guess. I don't trust easily, I've been betrayed before."

"Well, I'll give you a promise right now: I'm not about to betray you, or anyone else for that matter. Never heard of a warrior's honour?"

"I'm a soldier; we tend to be bound by oaths to the Republic."

"And your wages," Alexa commented. Carth snorted at that, but a small smile made it to his face. "So, we good?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. Now, survival 101, do we have any Creds?" Alexa's practical mind set in; to survive anywhere you needed money. A number of ways to earn some quick cash darted through her mind; bounty hunting was an option, except they had no credentials to prove their worth.

"Well, with some I got on me, and what's kept in the escape pods for situations like this, we have about a thousand Credits."

"That should be enough to get some supplies and some clothes."

"Why do we need clothes?" Alexa stared at the man, honestly, why did everyone have to be so _slow_.

"Do you think it's a good idea to walk around in Republic Standard armour in a city occupied by the Sith?" she smirked slightly as her logic set in, and he grimaced. "Plus I'm probably going to need some to earn any credits…" she trailed off at the thought of what she was suggesting to herself. It was something that was certainly a very effective method, but she loathed the idea of doing it.

"What do you mean by that?" she looked at him. ' _By the Force he may be just a little bit dense'_ she thought to herself.

"I think just a coat, maybe a different jacket should be enough for you. I'm going to need a full change; I'm walking around in Republic colours. To be fairly honest I can't wait to get out of this damn armour, it's really restrictive on movement." With that Alexa walked over to the door, pressing the release button at the centre. She peered out into the circular corridor that swept in both directions away, probably making a full circle with rooms like theirs in several places.

"There's a twi'lek selling stuff just down there," Carth said behind her, she nodded gratefully at him and walked off in search of the man. He wasn't particularly hard to find, a makeshift stall parked in the corridor, filled with various items that were just what they needed really. She slipped into Huttesse, the traders' language of the galaxy, as she talked to the green-skinned merchant, getting to know more about the city from the man. The Sith occupation was recent, but hadn't largely affected life on Taris. The rich stayed above in the Up City, the poor, the swoop gangs, and the aliens stayed in the Low City, and the true cast-offs and banished of society lived in the Under City, far from the sunlight and the sky. Taris was certainly a decidedly racist place, as the locals seemed to have something for human supremacy movements. Carth didn't look particularly pleased by the fact they were on a planet of racists, but kept his mouth shut at a glare from Alexa. What was perhaps more important was the knowledge that a number of the Republic escape pods had crashed in the lower city. Unfortunately, they apparently needed entry past Sith guards to get access to the lower areas of Taris, which would be something they certainly needed to do if they were to find Bastila.

In the end she bought Carth a new jacket, blue, and with less of the military look. For herself, she bought a knee-high pair of black boots, a dark blue pair of fairly short shorts, a white, short-sleeve top that left her stomach exposed and finally a long black coat she had to haggle over for a good while. She'd taken a fancy to the coat on first look, with its deep pockets, and even some armour padding woven in to the front, back, forearm and shoulders.

As the twi'lek began to add up the prices, Alexa leaned forward and whispered for the last things she needed, so Carth wouldn't hear. The man wordlessly grabbed three metal tubes from under his stall, likely from a large stock in a place like this, and added them to their purchases. They up and paid the 550 Credits price, and headed back to their room to get changed out of Republic uniform.

Carth simply switched his jacket over for the new one, but Alexa had to spend an ungraceful minute forcing her way out of the constrictive armour suit. She didn't miss Carth's eyes on her as she stood in her underwear getting the shorts on, but said nothing. It was something she was long since used-to, where or when she wasn't sure. She reached for the small top she had picked out, stretching her body to the other side of her bed.

"Hey, when were you a slave?" Carth's voice made her freeze with the top in her hands. Her head swivelled to see the man staring at her right shoulder, and the brand she bore there. Unwelcome memories of hard work and harsh words flitted through her mind once again, raising a wince at the infliction on her already aching head. Alexa sighed, she really had no wish to talk about a past she could hardly remember, and was doubtlessly unpleasant if her recent dreams were anything to go by.

"I might mention you're watching a woman get changed, spin it around soldier." Her voice was quiet, devoid of any emotion; she didn't like being stared at like this. _Evaluated_.

"I was just askin-."

"Turn around," she cut him off before he could finish, and her voice brooked no argument. He did as she asked, and she wordlessly put on the top and boots, swinging the coat on as well. Once done, she stalked over to the dingy mirror the room had come with. She examined herself, looking over the clothes they had bought. She grimaced, pulled off the coat and threw it to the bed sadly; it wouldn't fit what she needed to do while the night was still young. Her hands then reached up to undo the long ponytail she kept her hair in for combat, letting her black locks flow past her shoulders in a cascading mass. She could tell Carth once more had his eyes on her, that slow brain of his likely trying to work out what she was doing.

Finally, all that was left to do was for her to pick up one of the small, metal cylinders the twi'lek had given her. She rolled it in her hands, briefly reconsidering the idea. However, her logical mind won over her personal distaste; this was the most viable option. Surrendering herself to fate, she pressed one end of the cylinder to the inside of her elbow, and pressed the release button.

"What's that thing?" Carth inquired even as the syringe punctured her skin, administering the dosage. Once its little job was done, she wordlessly threw the empty tube to Carth to answer his question, and gave herself one last look in the mirror.

"Stay here and get some rest, I won't be back until morning." She said, deliberately not looking at the man as he examined the implement.

"Grade 'A' contraceptive…" he mumbled, reading out the text on the metal. "Hey wait," he grabbed her arm as she made to move for the door. "You can't be about to do what I think you are. This is…" he trailed off as he looked at her like she'd grown a third eye.

"Carth," she started softly, feeling the need to at least explain herself. "We need to get to the lower levels of the city to find Bastila, and to do that, we need an access card. There are only three ways we have to get one. One, we go into their base, and take one, which will involve killing everyone in sight, and alerting them to our presence. Two, we go about killing guards until we find one with a card, again, alerting them to our presence most likely. Three, I go out there and steal one from one of the Sith."

"But, there has to be another way, this isn't the right kind of way to do it."

"Do you think I like the idea of doing this? I don't. I loathe it. But right now, I don't have any choice, unless you have a better idea?" she left the question hanging in the air, half hoping he did, although she knew there were no other options. Carth's face was stony, but he said nothing, so she pulled her arm from his grasp. He made no move to stop her. "Like I said, get some sleep. I'll be back in the morning."

 _##############################################################################################################_

The slowly rising sun of Taris showered the dawn's morning light upon Alexa as she walked out of the upper city's cantina. She squinted at the harsh light, growing accustomed to it after the cantina's dingy lighting, and smoke-filled atmosphere.

Sitting pretty in her right pocket was an access card to the lower sectors of the city, while weighing heavily in the other were 2000 credits. They weren't physically heavy, but Alexa was very aware of the fact she was carrying them. Carrying _dirty_ money. Hell, she felt dirty herself. She wanted nothing more than to jump into the nearest fresher and scrub until this filthy feeling went way. But that wouldn't work, it never did. She didn't know where she had learnt that, but it was a piece of knowledge in her head, and she knew to trust it. Didn't make her feel any better after dealing with four drunken Sith though.

Alexa sighed, and pulled herself from her thoughts, and then paused. She had credits now, and there was a convenient store nearby. She may as well spend the damn things. As she strode in, she was hit by the difference between upper and lower Taris. Where the twi'lek' stall had been makeshift, and full of used wares, this woman's shop was white-washed and sleek. Masses of weapons, armour and various supplies lined ordered shelves and racks.

"Hello there, welcome to my shop," the owner was a cheery woman, not entirely a front to bring in customers, but likely exaggerated none the less. "You look like you could use a weapon, would you like to have a look at some of our blaster range? We have some very discrete models." Of course, with the way she was dressed, and the fact she was unarmed, this woman would assume things, and remind her of what she wished to forget.

"I'll…just have a look around for now, I'm not that much of a blaster person." She was drawn to a rack of armour, possibly due to how little she was presently wearing. She had to appreciate a few nice Echani works, their fibre techniques made decent armour out of clothing. However it did have to cover everything to be effective, it was similar to mesh underlay in that respect, and she could probably buy that here to add to her coat instead of this kind of thing. She paused as she reached the end of the rack, and the yellow Neo-Crusader armour there. Next to nothing really identified it as Mandalorian apart from the small T-shaped visor. The mass-produced durasteel plate did little to coax Alexa towards it.

"If you're interested in heavy armour, that's not a bad choice. Durasteel plate, environmental shielding, and good all-around protection, and I'll give you a great deal as well." The owner's perky voice picked up from behind Alexa, and she turned to face the woman.

"I'm not a big fan of Neo-Crusader work," she replied honestly, and then was struck by a thought. "I don't suppose you have any proper _beskar'gam_ do you?" The Mandalorian word rolled off her tongue easily, the Mando'a term for their armour literally translated as 'iron skin', and usually referred to that made from beskar, or Mandalorian iron in galactic basic.

"Err; is that the Mandalorian iron stuff?" Alexa perked up slightly, if she knew what it was that might mean she actually had some.

"Yes, it's the Mando term for it."

"I'm sorry. Anything made of Mandalorian iron was confiscated by the Sith when they occupied Taris, along with some of my other good stuff." She certainly sounded slightly annoyed by the fact; Alexa could imagine how bad it was to lose some of your most valuable stock.

"That's a shame."

"Is there anything else I can interest you in?"

"Well, I could do with an upgrade in the melee department."

"Ah, well we have a great selection in Vibro-weapons." The woman gestured to a rack on the other side of the room, which did indeed have a liberal selection of melee implements. "If I may, I'd recommend this," she picked up a long, thin sheath from a high rack. "Brand new, vibro-rapier, light as a feather, swift, and deadly in the right hands. Forty inches of top-of-the-line cortosis weave, slots for added electrical field if you want, and capable of handling a direct hit from a lightsaber blade."

"May I?" Alexa asked, gesturing towards the sheathed weapon. The woman obligingly handed her the rapier, which she pulled out in one swift movement. The thin, slightly curved silver blade glinted in the light as she examined it, feeling the light yet strong sword resonate slightly. Spurring into motion, she dropped to a stance and slashed the blade forward, then flipped it back around to the side for an imaginary parry. The blade whistled through the air as she accustomed herself to the feather-light rapier, ending with a backhand switch, slicing upwards to end another imagined foe's life.

Alexa smiled, and sheathed the blade before placing it on the desk at the centre of the room. It was a far better weapon than the comparably almost clumsy long-sword she had picked up on-ship. However she still needed something for her off-hand, two blades were better than one, and so to the surprise of the owner, she began to peruse the vibro-weaponry again. Eventually she picked out a wider, shorter vibro-sword, with a straight blade. The combination of curved and straight would likely serve her well, and keep up with her form changing a lot to stop any enemies getting used to her attacks. Predictable, is one thing Alexa certainly was not. Happy with her selection, she placed the second weapon on the desk as well, to the owner's raised eyebrow.

"So," she paused, "which will it be? Rapier or sword?"

"Both," Alexa replied simply, "and a set of mesh armour underlay if you have some."

The woman reached under the desk for some of the modifiable mesh so favoured amongst bounty-hunters and the like, and ran up the total worth.

"That will be eighteen-hundred and fifty credits please," she certainly seemed happy at the not insubstantial sale. Alexa fished out the four 500 Credit chits from her pocket, dropped them to the desk, and grabbed her purchases.

"Plus tip," she said, smiling, and walked out of the shop feeling decidedly better than how she walked in. This time she savoured the sunlight on her pale skin. Sensation and feeling meant she was alive, still breathing, still fighting.

The walk to the elevator that led to the small apartment ring was not far, nor was the journey down to their level. However faced with the door to their room, Alexa's good mood dampened. The man was likely going to be fairly judgemental, going by his reaction the night before. In some ways she couldn't blame him, but in life there are decisions to be made, and you do what you do to survive. At a press of a button the door opened to reveal said man, on his bed, once again cleaning his blaster. He didn't say a word as she walked in and dumped her purchases on her own bed, and pulled the card from her pocket.

"I got an access card," she said, trying to break the tense silence.

"Yeah, I see it. Guess that's what's important right now." Alexa really didn't like his tone; she could tell what he was thinking.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I got no right to have any say in what you do with your private business, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it."

"Private- you make it sound like a hobby I do for fun."

"Well I don't know, do I? I barely know you."

"You're right, you don't," she was fuming inside, what right did he have to assume things about her like that? Or judge her? "You don't know me; you don't know any of the things I've done in my life. You don't even know of what anyone outside of yourself and your own privileged upbringing got you. I saw your face when we were talking to that twi'lek, you've never even heard of, or thought of places like Taris before. Never thought of the idea that, maybe, not everyone has had a nice easy life."

"Hey, now wait a second-"she cut him off before he could finish his protestation, she didn't have to deal with crap like this.

"You ask any person here, or in the million places like it, and they'll say the same thing I do: You do what you can, to survive. Maybe on the day when you've experienced starvation in a cold, dark alleyway in winter, maybe on the day you've been beaten raw because someone else had a bad mood, maybe on the day you're forced to sell yourself just to be able to live another few hours, maybe on the day when you've felt _true_ _desperation_ , maybe then you could judge me Carth Onasi. Until then, I'll settle for you shutting up, and letting me get on finding this Jedi, and getting us out of this shithole." Alexa stood in the middle of the room, letting her anger vent out. She didn't even know where half the things she said came from, but they stood as full parts of her self, her being. She shook her head, and walked over to her bed, she needed to get that mesh fitted under her coat. Drifting somewhere through her mind, rolled the phrase ' _Long memory, short fuse_.' Behind her back, Carth remained silent, actually taking her words in hand it seemed.

Alexa chose to ignore the silent military man, all he had done so far on this planet was judge her, and condemn her actions. She pushed those thoughts from her mind, and set about fitting the underlay to her black trench coat.

 _##############################################################################################################_

Traversing the lower city was an experience. Alexa would have thought that two silent people, one armed with a pair of blasters, and Alexa with her twin blades on a loose black belt from her old armour, the pistol tucked in by her back, hidden by the coat, she would have thought two such individuals would be the sort of people that would be avoided, and wouldn't pick a fight with. So far they had dealt with no less than five of these 'Black Vulkar' gang-members. They weren't particularly bright, safe to say.

Still, despite the annoyances the Vulkar presented, they now stood at the entrance to the lower city cantina. If they could find information on Bastila, it was here.

"Hey," Alexa started before Carth could open the door, it was the first thing either of them had said since leaving the apartment. "Let me do the talking, these are rough types in here who won't take kindly to outsiders."

And so they entered the cantina that was even darker and smokier than the one she had left two hours earlier.

Asking around brought little results, even when Alexa applied all her skill, few people knew anything about the Republic pods, though they learnt plenty about the lower city, the duels that went on in that cantina, the swoop gangs struggling for dominance, the race coming up the next day, and a dozen other things.

And then they struck gold. Some drunken member of the Black Vulkar gang, talking very loudly in a corner gave them the knowledge that Brejik, the leader of the Vulkar, had pulled some woman out of a Republic pod, and was now going to offer her as his stake in the next day's swoop race between rival gangs. But what sealed the information was one of his equally drunk companions 'whispered' in a none-too-quiet drunken tone, that this woman had been found with a _lightsaber_.

Alexa pulled Carth to an unoccupied table, and sat down, while ordering two of whatever local drink was strongest to the barman, which meant deep, dark ale in tankards. She took a long swig of the dark liquid, savouring the strong taste. Not bad drink for a dive like this. She noticed Carth hadn't touched his own.

"Drink, it helps us fit in."

"I hardly see how sitting down and drinking helps us find Bastila." He was still on edge with her, and she doubted there was anything she could do to fix that. Or wanted to do for that matter, if he wanted to stew, let him stew.

"This is sitting down and figuring out what to do with what we know. Now drink up, we're getting looks." Alexa was aware of the fact the barman had noticed the pair of them asking questions, and was eyeing Carth's untouched drink. The man sighed, and took a gulp of the drink. Alexa had to stop herself from laughing at his expression from the strong alcohol, his eyes widening comically. She couldn't help but chuckle when he put down the tankard and coughed slightly, while she kicked back and raised her own to her lips again.

"What is this stuff again?" he asked, in a slightly hoarse voice she noted.

"Haven't the faintest idea," she replied honestly, taking another swig and floating ideas around her head. Getting Bastila meant they had to get her off the Black Vulkar somehow. In Alexa's experience, the best way to find out about someone, is to find their enemies.

"What was the name of that other group again?" she asked Carth, as he cautiously tried another mouthful of ale.

"Which group?"

"Rivals of the Vulkar, Hidden something or other."

"Hidden Beks. Led by one Gadon Thek, I think their base isn't far from here, why?"

"Ever hear that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"So you want to try going to this rival swoop gang for help against the Vulkar? What makes you think we can trust them?"

"I didn't say trust or help. I doubt they'd begrudge some information that may be detrimental to their rivals, and we go from there."

"Well, shall we go?"

"When you finish your drink maybe." She quipped, enjoying the scowl on his features for a moment, before downing the rest of her own.

As they stood to leave, Alexa flicked a 50 credit chit over to the barman, who deftly caught it, and nodded respectfully. It always paid to tip a barman, another nugget of information from somewhere in her forgotten past.

As Carth had said, it wasn't a far walk to the Hidden Bek base; in fact it wasn't particularly hidden at all, just guarded by one female zabrak outside, who stopped them from entering.

"Hey, Hidden Beks only."

"We have some business with Gadon," Alexa replied, hoping to persuade the woman.

"Oh really, what kind?"

"The kind where we may be able to help with your Black Vulkar problem." The woman laughed at that.

"Yeah? Well if anyone could say that and waltz in, I wouldn't be much of a guard would I? If you're serious, come back when you got some cred." The zabrak punctuated her point with a thrust of her blaster, so Alexa and Carth began to walk back to the Cantina area.

"What did she mean by cred? Credits?" Carth's unfamiliarity with people like those on Taris really showed a great deal about him to Alexa. A commander in the army he may have been, but he had little experience of real, hard life.

"Street cred: credibility, credentials. Something to prove ourselves with, that we mean business."

"And where are we going to get that?"

Alexa smiled, as the duelling section of the cantina leapt to mind.

"I think I have an idea about that."

 **A/N: Yep, bit longer this time. Please review, as the feedback is really helpful. 'Til next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: And it's back once more to Taris, so the story continues.**

Chapter Three

Alexa felt a slight sense of satisfaction, as she once more walked up to the Hutt who presided over the duels. The ' _Mysterious Stranger_ ' had just finished beating every single one of his duellists into the dust. Around her some of the patrons even _cheered_ , now that was something new to her. She was fairly sure that this was enough to catch the Beks' attention. She wordlessly caught the credits the Hutt threw at her while he laughed happily.

"You've defeated every one of my fighters, there's no-one left to fight you! You've brought me good business this day, only a shame Bendak Starkiller is retired, that would have been a match people would kill to see." Alexa easily understood the Huttesse, her aptitude for language holding up. She frowned at the name Bendak though, that sounded familiar, where had she heard that before? Once again the answer presented itself in her mind from somewhere.

"Isn't Bendak a Mandalorian clan?" she asked the Hutt.

"Starkiller is the name I gave him; he's a Mando boy alright. He retired when they outlawed death-matches, refused to fight for anything else. Shame, there's a bounty on his head now because of it, but no-one's been able to claim it." She shrugged off the bounty part and considered just how far flung Mandalorians had become in the galaxy, ever since their defeat. That made two in the local vicinity of Taris, the other being some man in the employ of Davik Kang, a local crime-lord who worked for the Exchange. Alexa shook such thoughts from her head, and strode out of the duelling section. Before meeting this Gadon Thek, she could use a drink, fighting was thirsty work after all. She strolled up and sat on a stool by the barman.

"Another of whatever it was you gave me earlier," she said simply, dropping some of her newly acquired credits on the bar, the barman nodded and complied, dropping the tankard in front of her welcoming hands. She was about to take a drink, when a voice sounded behind her.

"That was some decent fighting out there." ' _Male voice, garbled slightly by a helmet_ ,' were Alexa's first thoughts. She swivelled on the stool to face a man outfitted in yellow Neo-Crusader armour.

"The great Bendak Starkiller I presume?"

"And you're the 'Mysterious Stranger.' Shame I'm retired, you might almost be worth my time." Alexa smiled, and took a swig of her drink, recognising the grudging compliment.

"And why are you out here like this anyway?" she inquired, "dar'tome Mando'ade, nim epar'yaim." _(separated from the children of Mandalore, in some cantina)._ Bendak looked fairly surprised at her words.

"Ner vod?" _(sister/comrade?)_ he replied.

" _I guess we're both a long way from Mandalore_ ," she responded, speaking Mando'a as easily as basic. He seemed stunned for a moment by her words, and then he sat down on a stool by hers.

" _You…. There's not many of our people out here. Where's your armour?_ " Alexa frowned at that. Wearing armour, made by yourself preferably, was part of the Resol'nare, or the six laws of the Mandalorians. From the moment you step into adulthood, your armour is a symbol of yourself, your culture, it marked you as Mandalorian. Vague images once again floated to the forefront of her mind, the smell of smoke from a forge, the clanging as she slammed a hammer down upon hot metal. As quickly as they came, the memories were lost, and she felt slightly off now, feeling the loss of a part of herself.

" _Far away_ ," she replied eventually, downing a large swig of alcohol. " _I have to get off this rock before I can get back to it._ "

" _Well, while you're here, you may be able to help me with something_."

" _And what's that?_ "

" _My time is past_ ," the man visibly sagged beneath his armour, and she put down her drink to listen to him. " _Our brothers and sisters are scattered throughout the galaxy, my clan is all but gone. And I am an old warrior with no war to fight, no way to fall gloriously for Mandalore_."

" _That's why you only fought death matches,_ " Alexa guessed.

" _Aye, a way to die with weapon in hand, and battle-lust singing in my skull_."

" _And you want me to…_ " she left the end of the question hanging in the air.

" _Aye. A child of Mandalore to send another to sleep, fight me in the ring!_ " She took a moment to consider the offer. This was a man desperate to see his own end, asking for her help. A man of a culture whose words and sayings flitted through her mind, and those urgings were telling her to face the son of Mandalore in bloody battle and free him from this world. She looked at the sagged warrior, his old bones weary, and her instincts made up her mind for her.

Alexa held out her right hand, which the warrior clasped in a strong grip.

"Haat, ijaa, haa'it," _(truth, honour, vision)_ they said together, sealing the pact by ancient laws.

 _##############################################################################################################_

The arena floor stretched out in front of Alexa, to where Starkiller stood on the other side of the circle. In the stands the fans roared with anticipation of seeing a real, bloody battle to the death. Her dual blades rested in her bare hands, her coat flapped around her slightly in the flow of air. Starkiller stood straight and tall on the other side of the ring, clasping a Mando heavy pistol in one hand, his sword in his other. Wielding both a ranged and melee weapon was no easy task, and few were capable of it, but Alexa knew better than to underestimate a Mandalorian warrior.

As the announcer introduced the pair of them, Alexa flicked her rapier up against her body, the blade right ahead of her eyes. Starkiller copied the action, and together they swept their blades out to the side, solemn in their movement. This was duelling tradition older than any knew, kept alive only by the Jedi and the Mando'ade. Alexa dropped low to a pose, ready to move forward, awaiting the announcer's call to begin as her heart pounded in her chest. Her focus centred on the Mandalorian she faced, all else began ceasing to exist, the crowd's noise fading to nothing, her heart pounding was the only sound now.

As the lights around the arena switched on, she leapt forward, her legs slamming into the floor. Her straight path switched twice as she dodged the blaster bolts Bendak sent her way, and then she was on him. He blocked her first slash of the rapier, and brushed aside her in timed stab with her sword using his blaster. That blaster came up again, and her torso flipped backwards on her hips to avoid the bolt he fired, bringing up her rapier to slide away the hit from his sword that followed. Pulling her body back up, she jabbed with her sword into his defence, the hit of which he took on his right vambrace, bringing his sword around again, though she caught the blow on a backhand of her rapier. Alexa unleashed a harsh kick at his armoured legs, but he barely staggered, being well planted in his stance. Alexa however was left unguarded to the harsh push he suddenly gave to her upper body, taking her unawares. She crashed backwards into the arena floor, her back taking the brunt of the hit as she kept her head up, avoiding knocking it. But now she was at a disadvantage, and on the defensive as Bendak's sword whistled towards her. She blocked with both her blades, forming an 'X' as she pushed back against his strength and position above her. He pulled back, and she rolled quickly to the side as a blaster bolt singed the floor where she had been. Mid-roll she pushed her strong arms to the ground, and flipped her body forwards rather than backwards; taking a forward roll that landed her in a lithe crouch.

Whipping around she dashed forward, looking at the barrel of Bendak's pistol. As he slowly pulled the trigger, she didn't slow or move from her course, switching her rapier to backhand she leapt into the air in a spin, perfectly catching the bolt on her rapier's blade as she held it over her body. As she came out of the spin, she laid a brutal slash with her shorter sword into Bendak's unprepared sword arm, using her momentum and gravity, drawing deep blood and a gasp from Bendak. The gash weakened his sword arm, and he barely parried to the side the next backhanded blow from her rapier. Now Bendak was at the disadvantage against the savage blows she rained down upon him as they danced a deadly quick-step, him shuffling backward while she advanced with each blow. With finality she twisted backwards into him, slapping his blade away with her sword as she pressed herself flush against the man, her head twisted to the right to look into his T-shaped visor. Bendak's blaster flipped up against her unprotected side, but Alexa didn't so much as flinch as she looked into that visor, nor did she as he gasped out a breath, and the blaster wavered. His armoured head lolled forwards to look down, and she joined his stare, to see her rapier buried in his stomach, dark crimson flowing out of the wound.

Alexa withdrew her bloodied blade, and the man fell backwards to the floor as she had done a mere minute before, his sword clattering to the ground out of his grasp. Alexa smartly sheathed her blades, and twisted to kneel beside the man. Bendak struggled to raise his arm, the blaster switched around in his grasp to have him holding the weapon out to Alexa to be taken.

"For the glory of Mandalore," he choked out under his helmet. Alexa took the proffered butt of the weapon, and smiled sadly down upon the dying warrior.

"Re'turcye mhi," she murmured; a final farewell to an honourable warrior as he drew his last breath.

Alexa slowly stood, and at last the roar of the crowd and the announcer smashed down upon her, whipped up into a frenzy by the duel they had witnessed. But Alexa held eyes only for the body in the growing pool of red.

 _##############################################################################################################_

As Carth and Alexa walked up to the zabrak woman once more, Alexa drew Bendak's blaster from behind her back where it had replaced the Republic one, baring the signature symbol on the butt to the guard.

"Cred enough," she inquired in a faux-innocent sounding voice. The guard gave a look of grudging respect, and activated the door mechanism behind her back.

"Make any stupid moves and you'll have a dozen guns pointed at you," was her parting remark.

"I make it a rule not to make stupid decisions," Alexa replied, and strode into the dingy room beyond.

Rough metal walls contained a dingy room where old bar lights flickered in the ceiling, casting illumination upon the ten or so Hidden Beks standing around. All of them turned to stare at Carth and herself as they walked in, striding towards a desk where a man sat, and a female twi'lek stood protectively by him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" the twi'lek inquired, bringing a blaster round upon them, her blue lekku twitching, and oddly being a different colour to her face

"Calm yourself Zaerdra," the man at the desk said to the twi'lek. He had dark, weathered skin and ocular implants glinted in place of his eyes. "I may not have my real eyes anymore, but I recognise the 'Mysterious Stranger' that's been all over the holonet this morning."

"Call me Alexa," she quipped to the man.

"According to our guard here, you went and decided to take on the duellers of Taris after she told you to go get some cred. Challenging someone like Bendak Starkiller is a hell of a way to go about it, though by the fact you're still standing I'm guessing it went well." Alexa held up Bendak's pistol that was still in her hand for view, before slipping it back into her holster.

"Bendak is marching far away," she replied, respectfully making use of the Mandalorian term for the departed, those who died honourably in battle.

"Well, what is it the Beks can do for you _Alexa_?" he inquired, leaning back in his chair.

"Word on the street is you have a bit of a war going on with the Black Vulkar."

"That's common enough knowledge, what do you want about our brawling?"

"The Vulkar have a friend of ours, we'd like to get her back. They're apparently using her as their stake in some swoop race." Gadon leaned forward at that, looking at her intensely.

"She's your friend is she?"

"Aye." Alexa replied simply, not liking the way Gadon was looking at her. She liked it even less when he leaned back again and laughed.

"Well, it's good to know a few Republic personnel made it out of the escape pods alive." Alexa tensed, her right hand resting on the hilt of her rapier as it scraped against her thigh, summing up in her mind the fighting power of the Beks in the room. "Stay your blade, we got no quarrel with the Republic, and we're definitely not friends of the Sith since they decided Taris was worth their time." His words didn't do much to waver Alexa's cautiousness; Gadon was still a gang-leader.

"Well, if you could give us some information to help us get her back, we might be able to put a bit of a dent in the Vulkar fighting forces for you."

"If only it were so simple. She'll have already been given to the race officials, she is deep in a vault, with all the other teams' stakes in the race, and winner takes all."

"I guess we'll just have to go down there then."

"You can't, their security's tighter than a Hutt's wallet. Only way to get the woman, is to win the race. And there just may be a way we could help each other with that."

"Oh really, and how is that."

"Well, you see we had a sure-fire winner for this race: a prototype accelerator engine for the swoop. But, Vulkar stole it from us, and are holding it in their local base."

"I can see where this is going."

"And where's that?"

"We go get into the Vulkar base, most likely a suicide mission considering you haven't done it already, and get your engine. We then bring it back here to you, whereupon you double-cross us and hand us over to the Sith, win the race, and go on doing whatever it is a swoop gang does. Am I about right?"

"Why would we double-cross you? For one thing, I'm a man of honour, and my word is golden. And, if you don't believe me, what would we stand to gain? We'd have the engine, the race, and all that came with it. We'd have beaten the Vulkar, and the Sith, in one fell swoop. And, why would we deny you what you want? I got no use for this woman, I don't deal in slaves, and I don't deal with those bastards upstairs, she's all yours. So, what do you say? You get the engine, we get you the woman?" Alexa studied the man's face carefully. She could sense no deceit coming from him, and his words seemed genuine. Grudgingly she held out her right hand, which he firmly clasped.

"Haat, ijaa, haa'it," she said softly, raising Gadon's eyebrow.

"And what did that mean exactly?"

"That this is a pact sworn on my blood and honour."

"Well, I guess that's good enough for me," he leant forward and placed his hands on the desk. "These are the breaks; front entrance to their base is locked up tight, and guarded with cannons they scavenged from somewhere. But, there's a way in from underneath. If you go through the Under-City, and the sewers, you'll find yourself right under the Vulkar base."

"If it's that easy, why haven't you done it already?"

"I didn't say it was easy sister. Under-City is a dangerous place, rakhghouls all over the place, and the sewers are a maze of new, old and older: you'll need a guide."

"And presumably you know someone?"

"That I do: Mission Vao. She's been exploring the Under-City for years; she knows it better than anyone."

"Gadon, she's just a kid," Zaerdra piped up, her face disgruntled slightly.

"She's capable enough, so is that wookie friend of hers. And do you know anyone else who can find their way around there?" Zaerdra remained silent at Gadon's question, so he turned back to Alexa.

"You'll find Mission somewhere down in the Under-City, tell her that I sent you to help get the engine back from the Vulkar."

"Nothing more specific than that?"

"I'm afraid not, all I can do is wish you good luck. Oh, and watch out for rakhghouls."

Alexa seized the moment to take Carth by the arm and lead the pair of them out of the room, then turning in the direction of the elevator to the Under-City.

"What makes you think you can trust this guy?" Carth asked behind her.

"All he told us was the truth."

"And how do you know that?"

"I just do, I know when people are lying to me, and he wasn't lying."

Carth stopped what would have likely been a comment on how could she know that as they approached the Sith trooper who guarded the doors. Before the trooper could demand anything, she wordlessly flashed the access card from her pocket, and he opened up the doors before them.

As the doors closed around them, and they began their descent downwards, Alexa's hand rested on her sword subconsciously. By the warnings for whatever a rakhghouls was, she'd need to use her swords.

Darkness encroached upon the pair as they fell deeper into the heart of Taris.

 **A/N: Shorter chapter again I know, but felt like the right place to cut it off. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter 4, and delving into the depths of Taris. Oh, and 'adult themes' warning, rated M for a reason.**

Chapter Four

The elevator seemed to fall forever, and Alexa was wondering if there was a fault when they finally slowed, and the doors slid open. Stretching out before them were makeshift shacks and shelters, a few people walking around in handmade clothing.

As the pair stepped forwards into the village, they garnered many stares, most of whom looked away when they met them. Feeling slightly conspicuous amidst the stares and murmurs of 'Up-worlders,' Alexa pushed ahead for open gates that lead beyond the small compound. A man who was obviously the guard didn't notice them, and was beckoning beyond the gate.

"Come on, I have to close the gate," he yelled out to someone. As Alexa and Carth stepped into the open gateway, a man rushed by them into the compound, immediately resting his hands on his knees and taking deep breaths.

"My wife…just behind me," he gasped out. Indeed, Alexa could see a woman clad in the same makeshift garb these people wore running towards them, followed by two strange white creatures. They were vaguely humanoid, with very pale skin, strangely shaped muscles and capable of a loping run on all-fours.

"I'm sorry," the guard said, and started turning a wheel that lowered the gate, "I can't allow rakhghouls the chance of getting in here." He sounded genuinely sorry, but the gasping man immediately grasped his chest.

"You can't! They'll kill her!" he cried desperately into the guard's chest. Alexa gave one look over to the woman being chased, making a split-second decision. Her feet carried her swiftly underneath the falling gate, drawing her weapons as she went. She vaguely registered a shout from behind her, but her focus was upon the trio of shapes she was running towards. She whistled past the desperate looking blonde woman, and faced the dashing creatures.

Alexa swiftly flipped her rapier to backhand, and plunged the vibrating blade into the top of the first creature's head before it even knew what was coming. She used her momentum to push herself over the beast, rolling off its slimy back to the other side, pulling her rapier out of its head as she went. The next beast had already seen her, but twin blaster bolts to its arm and head distracted it long enough for Alexa to swiftly behead it, the grotesque head rolling to a stop close by. She looked behind her to find Carth, his blasters still raised. The blonde was standing at the gate in the welcome arms of her husband, staring back at Alexa and Carth.

Alexa sheathed her weapons, and strode back towards the trio of under-city dwellers. Before heading off, she'd like some information.

"Thankyou up-worlder, I'd be dead if you hadn't saved me," the blonde said gratefully as they approached.

"Not a problem, but I don't suppose you could answer some questions?" Alexa inquired.

"Of course, what is it you'd like to know?"

"Well, firstly, what were those things?" All three people scowled at that.

"They're you if you get bitten," replied the guard grimly. "Rakhghoul venom infects the bitten, turns them into those _things_."

"So those are rakhghouls…" Alexa murmured; it wasn't the first time she'd heard the name. "We'll make sure to stay away from the teeth then. One other question: I don't suppose you've seen someone called Mission Vao?"

"The twi'lek girl? Not since yesterday, she passes through here all the time, probably headed for the sewers," the guard replied.

"And which way are those?"

"There are entrances all over, closest is just north of here. But they're a maze, you'd get lost instantly."

"That's why we need Mission. Thankyou, I think we'll be on our way now."

"One more thing up-worlder: watch out for patrols, armoured men have been searching down here, and they're not particularly friendly," the husband piped up with the advice. Alexa nodded gratefully at him, and stepped beyond the gate as it slowly descended behind her.

"So, we need to find some twi'lek girl, let her lead us through the sewers to a gang base, all the while avoiding creatures that can turn you into one of them with one bite." Carth sounded not a little bit wary.

"You make it sound so easy," Alexa replied shortly, it wasn't like they had much choice. "They said the nearest entrance was to the north, we're more likely to find her around there. Just watch around for rakhghouls." She stepped forward at a decent pace, forcing Carth to keep up with her.

"But how are we going to find her in this place?" Alexa was about to round on him with a scathing comment when her words caught in her mouth as a young, female, blue-skinned twi'lek ran out from behind a piece of fallen sheet-metal. She was wearing a black, short sleeved top not dissimilar to Alexa's own, and a grey sleeveless jacket loosely above that. A pair of tight white leggings descended beneath her brown boots that came up above her knees. Wrapped around her blue lekku were a few strips of cloth, connected to a headdress on her forehead. A vibroblade and a pistol hung from a tight belt around her hips, though her lithe young body was more akin to a dancer than a fighter.

"Please, you look like warriors, you have to help me. I really need your help, they've taken my friend and I can't get to him, please, please," she chattered quickly in basic, youthful energy lending speed to her words.

"Slow down, take a breath," Alexa said to the twi'lek carefully, she looked to still be in her teens.

"No, I really need your help. No-one's around to help me, and the Beks are too busy and they're going to send him away." She was nearly desperate by the sound of her voice.

"Hang on, the Beks? That would make you Mission Vao, right?" Alexa placed a hand on the twi'lek's shoulders, hoping to calm her down.

"Yeah, that's me alright, how d'you know my name?"

"Gadon sent us, apparently you can guide us through the sewers to the Vulkar base; we're here to get the Beks their swoop engine back."

"Look, I promise to help you get to their base, but I need your help getting Zaalbar back first." Alexa frowned, her multitude of known languages included Shyriiwook, and that sounded like a name from the wookie language.

"That's a wookie name," Alexa looked at the twi'lek oddly; wookies were rarely found outside their home planet of Kashyyyk.

"Yeah, he's my friend, and they're going to give him to the Vulkar if we don't get to him." Alexa looked over at Carth, who didn't look particularly pleased with the situation, but Alexa wasn't one to leave a girl in trouble like this, especially as they needed her to take them through the sewers.

"Do you know where he's being held?"

"Yeah, they're in the north part of section six in the sewers," Mission replied, oblivious to the fact neither she nor Carth knew where section six was.

"Well then, you got yourself two warriors."

"Hey, are you sure about this?" Carth butted in from behind her.

"What, we can ask for her help, but she can't ask for ours? Besides, I'm not one to leave someone who asks for my help."

"Fine," Carth replied somewhat irritably, honestly, the Republic were supposed to be the ' good guys' of this war, Alexa couldn't work out what had got him so ruffled up. "You stay here at the village kid; we'll go get this wookie of yours." Whatever Carth could have said, that was the wrong choice.

"Hell no, I'm not a kid, and I'm coming with you," Mission apparently did not like being talked down to; a girl after her own heart.

"Look, _kid_ , we're probably walking into another fight to get your friend back, you should stick back in the village where it's safe."

"Carth," Alexa started warningly; getting on her own nerves was one thing, but he didn't need to take out his 'issues' on someone they'd barely met, and needed to accomplish their mission. She didn't get a chance to say the rest of her warning as Mission laid into him.

"Look, I'm not afraid to be in a fight, and you sure as hell ain't my father. You don't have any right to order me around, or tell me what I should and shouldn't do. So, you can keep your lectures, I'm coming with you."

Alexa couldn't resist chuckling at seeing the middle-aged Republic commander talked down-to by a teenager. "She's right Carth; she has every right to come if she wants. Besides, do _you_ know the way to the north side of section six?"

The soldier in question held up his hands in surrender before the pair, and walked off ahead of them somewhat grumpily. Alexa swore she could hear him mutter something about women being difficult under his breath. Since Carth had decided to take the lead, and Alexa had no wish to go up front and deal with his doubtless bad mood, she walked in step with the blue skinned twi'lek, studying her. Young she may have been, but this girl was no 'kid' as Carth put it, she's seen and survived a few things in her life.

"You didn't have to stand up for me back there," Mission said quietly to Alexa.

"Don't know what you mean." Alexa replied, smiling. She liked the young twi'lek.

"Yeah you do, just not everyone treats me like someone who can make their own decisions. So, thankyou, yeah." The girl was shy all of a sudden, unused to laying any truth out most likely.

"Mission, I've seen plenty of things in my life, done most of them too. I know the difference between a kid and a young adult, and you aren't a kid. I mean, what are you, seventeen?" Mission smiled proudly at Alexa's words.

"Fifteen actually," she admitted.

"Well, age is just a number, and not something I define anyone by. Besides, growing up in a place like this? Sort of thing that matures you quickly."

"How do you know I grew up here?"

"A few things: the way you carry yourself here, you're confident in where you are, but not relaxed, ready for anything, that means you've both learnt to know and respect this place for the danger it holds, that takes time, sort of thing you see on a war veteran; your familiarity goes hand in hand with Gadon's recommendation of you because you've been running through sewer tunnels for years, learning the ins and outs of a maze of pipes, again, takes time and reason to do so; and that leads onto again the fact that it takes time, and would usually be somewhere to escape to, implying you don't have anywhere else to go, combined with the fact you went to us, the first warriors you found for help, implies no family, which runs with the clear fact you can fend for yourself in your appearance, and likely learnt to do so over several years. You're a girl emerging into womanhood, who learnt the hard way how to survive in a rough place."

"That's…" Mission paused; maybe Alexa had laid her analysis a bit too far into personal experiences for Mission. "That's quite some observational skills you got there."

"Sorry, old habits, being able to guess someone's character can save your life at the right moment."

"I can guess it would."

"Guess can you?" Alexa smiled and took a chance to try and lighten Mission's mood, "well, what can you guess about me then?" Mission's lips twitched up slightly, and the twi'lek's electric blue eyes began studying Alexa's form.

"Well, you're a fighter. Been one all your life, not a stranger to having a weapon in hand, and you've worked hard with them to get a few muscles, and you got skills to use 'em if you can wield two full length swords at once. You don't carry yourself in a military way like Fleet-boy up ahead, and the way you've acted so far screams warrior from a people of warriors, trained in honour and tradition, and with the tribal face-markings I'd say some tribe out on the outer rim." Alexa's attempt at lightening the mood was certainly working as Mission went into her analysis. "Also, way you said 'this kind of place' implies you've seen plenty of them, combined with 'professional warrior' kind of look, and from what I can see scars on your exposed skin, you've been through plenty of things, and one of them…." Mission trailed off as she gazed into Alexa's grey eyes.

"One of them what?" Alexa asked quietly to the seemingly frozen twi'lek.

"I don't know, something's weighing down on you. And you look, like, not so much lost as searching, looking for some solidarity, or maybe who you are…" Mission trailed off again as she gazed at her, but Alexa was mostly surprised at the intuitive way that Mission had deciphered the very thing that had plagued her dreams and waking hours.

"Alright, got to admit I'm impressed," was all Alexa said, trying not to let show how far Mission had got to her. Mission smiled at the compliment, kindness probably wasn't something found on Taris very often. She looked like she was about to say something when Carth piped up from in front.

"I think we're here," he said gruffly. Though Alexa and Mission hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking, they now stood at a large, rusty door. Mission pressed a button on an ancient control-pad, and the entryway slowly opened up.

"Right, you two are gonna need to follow my lead," Mission said, smile gone from her face and replaced by seriousness. "Keep your weapons out, if we're unlucky we may run into a few rakhghouls." Alexa followed Mission's words and drew her blades from their twin sheathes, even as the other two drew their pistols.

Mission slowly led the way through seemingly endless twists and turns of rusty and dripping tubing, down several ladders, and into the path of a pair of rakhghouls at one point that Alexa quickly dispatched before the other two could even open fire. No-one spoke, and the atmosphere was tense between them all. Eventually Alexa's keen ears picked up a shuffling noise ahead, and Mission slowed them at an upcoming junction with paths forward and to the side. She placed a finger on her lips, and beckoned Alexa to her position against the wall just before the corner. Alexa slipped back-first up against the cold metal, and slipped her head around the corner, and froze at what she saw.

It wasn't the three gamorreans on guard with vague approximations of Black Vulkar uniforms that made Alexa's blood boil. It wasn't the sets of bars over six entrances to create makeshift cells. It wasn't even the wookie held within one, or the dead rodian slumped against the wall in another. No, it was something else, something much more familiar to her. _Collars_. Around both the wookie and the rodian's neck, and a set of three hanging from one of the guard's belt, the black metal bands she instinctively knew so well. Designed to be both a symbol of servitude, of _slavery_ , but also with a needle dug into the skin at the back of the neck ready to deliver an electric shock straight to the nervous system should the wearer disobey. Alexa could feel the phantom tingles delivered via the bump at the back of her own neck, could feel the heat of the brand burning through her top. Her anger boiled to the very depth of her system, and she stepped out before the three pig-faced beings.

The next thing she knew, she stood above three dead bodies, each brutally mutilated, blood flowing from lacerations in their slowly cooling green skin. Deep breaths pulled through her lungs, and her heartbeat pounded in her skull, a war-beat of death and destruction. She was vaguely aware of three pairs of eyes on her as she regarded the prone forms. Unleashing some of the vast reserves of fury, she brought her boot down three times, once upon each of the collars that hung from one of the guard's belt, smashing the electric mechanism. The destruction done, she turned her gaze upon the wookie within a close-by cell. She didn't bother retrieving any key from the guard; she simply brought her sword down upon the lock with all her not-insubstantial strength, the old metal easily giving way to reveal the shaggy being before her. As she entered the cage he moved back slightly away from her fearsome visage.

" _Hold still_ ," she said loudly in perfect growling Shyriiwook, much to the surprise of the cell's occupant. However he did comply as Alexa reached up to hook her sword underneath the black metal of his collar. With a cry she pulled back, snapping the metal band which landed on the floor. Alexa put away her blades, and picked it up, then walked back out of the cell to where Mission and Carth were gathered. She studied the ruined circle of black, before pocketing it; there would be words about this later. Her attention was taken however by Mission rubbing the back of her neck as she stared down at the gamorreans' bodies. Alexa reached forward, and slightly roughly snatched Mission's arm.

"Hey," Mission briefly protested, before Alexa pushed up her right sleeve, exposing the tattoo beneath. Though out here on Taris, the method of application was different, the black ink was all too familiar. The symbol of the Black Vulkar rested above the number '2084,' imprinted into Mission's youthful blue skin. Alexa was all but ready to fly into a rage, but the worried expression on Mission's face stopped her. Her rational mind reasserted itself, and she let go of Mission's arm, finally realising how hard she had been grasping it.

"Sorry," she said softly to the young twi'lek.

"'S'okay," Mission mumbled, sliding her sleeve back down to cover the mark.

"I'm not a fan of slavery," she said, looking around at the bloody bodies and their mutilation. Had she made those attacks before or after they were dead? The last thing she could remember was stepping out from the corner.

"I guessed as much," Mission replied, with a half-hearted smirk. The memory of her own mark was likely all too fresh to her.

" _And I would bear one of those collars now if it weren't for you_ ," growled the deep voice behind Alexa. She slowly turned to face the towering wookie, looking up into his face, and she wasn't exactly a short person. " _You have saved me from enslavement, for this I owe you a life-debt._ " The wookie, Zaalbar she remembered, got down on one knee before her, bowing his head. " _If you will accept me, your enemies are mine, your causes are mine, and I will fight for you until death releases me from my debt."_

" _I think I mentioned I hate slavery_?" Alexa growled out, looking upon his shaggy mane. " _Get up; I would not free you from one type of slavery to put you into another_."

" _Ancient tradition states I owe you my life, owe you a debt_ ," he replied, looking up at her face.

" _If you wish to fulfil a debt, then feel free to help us_ ," Alexa proffered a hand down to him, " _but do it of your own free will_." Zaalbar stared up at her for a long moment, then took her hand and pulled himself up.

" _What is your name_?"

"Alexa," she replied simply. Zaalbar roared a deep bellow from his huge lungs, the noise echoing down the old sewer pipes.

" _Then I will fight by your side,_ Alexa," he stated. Alexa smiled, and nodded in respect of his vow. The vow, by wookie standards, taken, Zaalbar turned to Mission and pulled the girl up in a great hug, eliciting a gasp from her.

"Careful Big Z, I'm fond of breathing you know." Alexa chuckled at that, watching the wookie put her down and run the rough pad of a hand over her head, using his height to an advantage. Mission smiled up at her large companion, the bond obvious between the pair.

"Well, since Z feels like he wants to follow you, guess you're stuck with us," Mission smirked as said wookie stepped into an empty cage and withdrew a long bandolier from a pile of crates. He slipped it around his great shoulder, a heavy vibro-sword rested on his hip, and a bowcaster upon his back. Various pouches of supplies lined the bandolier, and that appeared to be the only thing he wanted to retrieve, walking back out with an air of satisfaction to stand by Mission.

"Ah, you say stuck with you, I say gained a pair of fighters to help us on our way. Perspective is always important."

"Ok, if you're done chatting, we have a job to do," Carth stepped in, breaking his silence for the first time since entering the sewers.

"Alright captain grumpy," Mission replied, stopping short of sticking her tongue out at him.

"That's commander Onasi, kid," Carth replied curtly.

"Hey, I thought we went over this, I'm not a _kid_ ," she replied, scowling, punctuated by Zaalbar roaring behind her.

"Slip of the tongue," was all Carth said in his defence. Mission looked to be about to lay into him once more, before Alexa felt she should intervene, honestly feeling like a mother overseeing squabbling children.

"Hey, let's have enough of this, we're about to storm some gang's base, and we're sooner to tear each other apart than them if we keep on going like this, Now, Mission, would you kindly lead the way to the Vulkar base. Carth, would you kindly shut up."

"W-what?" he spluttered.

"If I can't trust you say something nice, or at least constructive, then don't say anything at all."

"I'm your commanding officer; you can't talk to me like that."

"Not down here you're not fleet-boy, this is front line battlefield, and is thereby my jurisdiction." She turned and followed a practically glowing Mission as Carth tried to think up what to say behind her. "Ori'buyce, kih'kovid," ( _all helmet, no head_ ) she muttered the Mandalorian insult about those with over-developed senses of authority as they set off once more into the sewer tunnels, trusting in Mission's unerring sense of direction as she led them on a confusing path of twists and turns, up and down the cistern.

Eventually Mission stopped by a blue force-field, set up from projectors around the tunnel it led off into. A computer stood next to the crackling energy field.

"This is one of two ways toward their base; they both should lead into an open drainage area which has an entrance into their storeroom. Just gotta slice this damn thing…" Mission set about doing just that after explaining, hacking into the computer systems.

"If this is the entrance to their base, wouldn't they have tight security on that thing," Carth inquired, watching doubtfully as Mission tapped commands into the system.

"Have some faith Carth," Alexa said quietly, also watching as Mission's facial expressions change briefly at parts of the system resisting her, or at it letting her through. After several minutes of furious typing, and spiking into the computer's innards, Mission stood up with a triumphant grin, tapped a button, and the energy field frazzled out. Alexa gave Carth a pointed look.

"Yeah, yeah. Nice job I guess," he relented at her glare.

"Thankyou very much, now I believe it's time to give the Vulkar a kick up the ass?" Mission replied in her light voice. Alexa laughed, sidling up to look down the dark corridor.

"I hadn't figured you for a slicer," she commented as the twi'lek joined her walking down the tunnel.

"Eh, I've been messing around with tech for years, used to repair droids to make some extra cash for my brother. Computers, explosives, droids, you name it, I can work with it."

"Your brother?" Mission's face fell slightly, and Alexa realised slightly too late she'd hit on a hard patch for the girl.

"Yeah, he's not around here anymore. His girlfriend persuaded him to head off for Tatooine when I was twelve, haven't seen him since."

"He left you here at twelve years old?" Didn't sound like much of a brotherly thing to do to her.

"His skank of a girlfriend persuaded him, she was someone who dated a lot of richer people than Griff. She wanted more than he could offer her, so he kept running up debts and gambling with schemes to get rich."

"So he left for another planet without you?"

"He promised to come back once they had the money, so I've been surviving since then. Except, well, 'bout a year ago the Vulkar caught up with me, deciding to settle Griff's debt by taking me to be a…" Mission suddenly seemed to realise how much she'd blurted out, and slowed, rubbing the top of her right arm.

"They wanted me to…" her voice was quiet, subdued from her normal perky self.

"You don't have to say it, I can guess what they wanted," Alexa knew all too well, and unwelcome memories of the Sith she'd dealt with the night before flashed before her eyes. Fourteen was no age at which anyone should go through that, hell, they never should.

"Yeah, well they spent three weeks trying to force me. I refused to do anything, 'course that made them give me plenty of shocks through the collar. I wasn't in the best state when they threw a wookie in the cell with me." Mission turned to smile slightly back at Zaalbar, who had been lowly growling some wookie curses while Mission was talking. "For the rest of that week Z held me at night, kept me strong. When a bunch of the Beks attacked the Vulkar, we took the opportunity to get out of there. We've been running together ever since."

If anything, the admission had only strengthened Alexa's respect for the twi'lek; she survived on her own for three years in a place like this, faced four weeks of essentially torture, and still was strong on the other side. Her heart was not exactly stony, but neither was Alexa the most open person; however her heart was going out to the strong girl beside her.

"Hey, you'll get to repay them in full when we get up there," Alexa said to Mission, who grinned and was likely about to say something before being cut off by a rumbling growl drifting down what was left of the corridor before them. All four of their heads turned to the dark space ahead, Alexa taking point to look around the corner. Beyond was a large room, with drainage running down the side as Mission had predicted. However what she had most certainly not predicted was the fully grown rancor standing on its hind legs, looking towards the tunnel entrance they were situated at.

"Right," Alexa whispered, "that complicates things."

"Why are you whispering?" Mission replied in an equally quiet voice.

"No reason. Mission, since you mentioned you're good with explosives, got any on you?" Said girl reached into a pocket of her jacket and wordlessly pulled out a spherical thermal detonator. Oh did she love Mission right now as she gratefully took the high explosive, stuffing it into the left pocket of her long coat. She drew her twin swords and took a deep breath, then dashed from hiding towards the monolith of leathery flesh, which roared and stumbled towards its new possible meal.

A huge clawed hand smashed downwards towards Alexa, which she dodged to the right, then leapt back at it as it hit the floor. She implanted her sword into the creature's skin, using it to pull herself up with her strong arms, repeating the move with her rapier as far up as she could reach. The beast roared in pain at each slice into its skin as she used her swords to essentially climb up the mountain of skin, again and again up its arm. Avoiding a clumsy blow from its other arm, she left her sword implanted in the beast's ear, and swung herself up onto its knobbly head, using her rapier into its skull to anchor herself. Moving quickly, she grabbed the thermal detonator from her pocket, and with it in hand, smashed it down into the rancor's angry black eye. The beast bellowed in pain and ferocity as she pushed as far in as she could to the watery flesh, before pressing the button on the sphere. Moving as swiftly as she was able, she flipped backwards, leaving her rapier behind, to land gracefully on the cistern floor as it scrabbled at its head.

She straightened to watch as with a 'whumpf' noise muffled by its skull, the claws stopped moving, and the rancor fell with a mighty crash to the side. Calmly Alexa climbed the dead beast to retrieve her swords from where they were stuck in its skull, pulling them out of the bone. When she jumped down to face her companions, both Mission and Carth were standing open mouthed, while Zaalbar just towered stoically over the two, examining the kill.

"What are you lot gaping around for, we have a base to raid remember?" Alexa enjoyed the twin snaps of Mission and Carth's mouths shutting.

"That's a rancor," Carth stated, somewhat obviously.

"'Was' would be a more accurate term," Alexa replied as she examined the door behind where the rancor had been guarding, this was more modern than the rest of this area, and at a press of a button, revealed an elevator. "Not even locked," Alexa murmured.

"I don't think they expected anyone to get past the energy field, let alone their pet _rancor_ ," Mission said, stepping into the pod with Alexa.

When everyone had stepped inside, Zaalbar pressed the prominent button, and the pod swished quickly upwards, on far more modern systems than those of the sewer's construction.

When the doors opened, Alexa straight up growled at the scene before them. The elevator emerged into a store-room, packed with crates and supplies, but in front of them was a pair of Vulkars, trousers down, 'using' an emaciated green skinned twi'lek girl who couldn't be much older than seventeen.

She drew her twin blades as darkness began to again cloud her vision.

 _##############################################################################################################_

Walking up to Gadon, Beks around the four were cheering them, even as Zaalbar lugged the gurney with the prototype engine on it behind him. Alexa had eyes for only Gadon as the man slowly clapped from behind his desk.

"Well done, I half didn't expect you to come back at all," he commented. Alexa didn't reply as she drew the broken collar she had taken off Zaalbar, and slammed it down on Gadon's desk. Vaguely she registered Zaerdra cocking a blaster at her, but she didn't turn to face the twi'lek.

"You didn't mention the Vulkar were slavers," she said through gritted teeth, still remembering the dozens of their gang members she had cut through minutes beforehand.

"It's one of the more unpleasant sides of their business, yes. And another reason the Beks disagree with them."

"You want to give me one good reason I shouldn't get you to give me the location of their main base, kill everyone there and rescue my friend that way?"

"I'll give you two: Your friend isn't there anymore, I told you, she's in a vault with the other teams' stakes in the race; and, you made a deal, on your 'blood and honour' I believe you said." His words rang true, she grudgingly admitted to herself, drawing back from her stance, much to the relief of those around her. "There are some bunks next door, go get some rest, you're gonna be racing tomorrow."

"Racing?"

"Yeah, I like you, and you retrieved the damn engine from the middle of the Vulkar base. Gives you the right to be the one racing in the morning in my book." Alexa considered the old man, for a gang member he wasn't a bad kind of person. She nodded acceptingly, and made for the door he'd referenced and the grateful realm of sleep offered by the bunks in there.

 _##############################################################################################################_

 _The air was cold on Alexa's barely covered limbs as she was forced ahead of a guard. Rough slave garments and her collar were all that guarded her fourteen-year old body against the winter chills. Pushed into entering the great hall of_ him _, her_ owner _, sitting in his throne in the armour he was not worthy of wearing. He was faced by a Zygerrian, one of the natives of the planet, who was eyeing her appreciatively, sizing her up._

" _This is her?" the feline man said in a rough tone, as if buying a cut of meat._

" _Aye, she's strong as you can see. Trained by my quarter-master as a Mandalorian," the voice was garbled out of his helmet, the T-shaped visor keeping her from seeing his eyes. The Zygerrian approached her, and roughly manhandled her, examining her muscles. "Being my daughter she also inherited my battle-skill, there are few who can face a Fett in-"_

" _You are_ not _my father!" she bellowed, cutting him off. She grimaced, but refused to cry out as electric pain flared up her spine for her insubordination. "Dar'buir,"_ (parent disowned by child) _she growled out through gritted teeth._

" _Unfortunately, as you can see, she is stubborn," the man continued on as if she had said nothing._

" _I'm sure that can be beaten out of her."_

" _She can take a lot of punishment without saying a word."_

" _Well," the Zygerrian smiled down at her with what could only be described as malevolence. "We'll see how long she lasts when she's used by my garrison for a night every time she disobeys." Alexa kept a straight face on the outside, but inside, her stomach turned sour with fear at the threat. The Zygerrian flicked a credit chit over to where the Mandalorian sat, who caught it deftly. The feline's two guards came forward to snatch her arms, and begin dragging her from the room towards the exit doors._

" _Aruetii! Hu'tuun! Dar'manda!"_ (traitor, coward, un-Mandalorian) _she shouted at the man in his throne as she was dragged from the room, trying to ignore the increase of pain at her neck from each cry._

 _##############################################################################################################_

 _Alexa stood unmoving before the sour faced Zygerrian woman, who was looking over the sixteen-year old with mild distaste._

" _Your time as a menial slave is done, you are old enough to assume your duties as the body slave you were bought to be," the woman's voice was scratchy, dangerous. Alexa said nothing as she stood stock-still, refusing to acknowledge her. "You will be trained in what you have left to learn. You must know true obedience as you have refused these past two years. You will soon serve the master as his body slave so must adhere to your new duties: Organise his household, oversee his schedule, protect him, fight for him, and warm his bed at night."_

" _Never," she replied clearly. Immediately Alexa was on the floor, writhing as the highest setting of pain on the collar was applied._

" _That is your place,_ slave _," the woman spat harshly. Alexa simply stayed on the floor, taking the electric agony in silence, not a single cry leaving her lips. Her last bastion of defiance._

 **A/N: And maybe now you see why there's an M rating. Don't start thinking I'm going to start doing any graphical depiction of sex scenes, that's unlikely as I don't want to risk having the story deleted for going against FF's rules. Anything other than that however is fair game, and I see this as a part of the character I'm creating in Alexa, hardened by harsh experience of life.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Chapter 5, swoop race time. I've edited the idea a bit, so the area is a little bit different to the game.**

Chapter Five

Following Zaalbar, Alexa emerged into the small 'pit' area the Beks had been given for the race, rubbing the back of her head absent-mindedly. The events of the day before seemed to have affected her dreams as well, memories of her time as a slave were not exactly welcome, and her head was aching as it had done after every time she had slept of late. Zaalbar gave a flick of his great arm to show Alexa towards where several people were gathered, then hopped up on top of a pile of crates, setting about tinkering with his great vibro-sword.

As she approached, Alexa saw Mission arguing with a pair of Beks; one ithorian and one twi'lek. Something about driver input she registered as she stared at what they stood by. It looked like someone had put a seat and some controls on top of an engine, strapped a long booster to each side, and welded it all together. Various obsanities crossed her mind as she realised this was the 'swoop bike' she would supposedly be riding.

"Hey, Alexa," Mission called from the side, stopping her silent cursing of Gadon Thek. "You mind telling these guys you'd prefer manual shifting, and no auto cornering correction?" at the twi'lek's words the ithorian once more launched into a tirade about Alexa being a first time racer and needing the help of the systems.

"Look, I'll go with whatever Mission suggests," Alexa butted in, ending the argument, though Alexa felt it wouldn't make much different as she doubtfully stared at the bucket of bolts in front of her.

"In that case can I suggest you buy me solid gold earrings?" Mission's comment succeeded in drawing out a smile from Alexa's doubtful visage. "Hey, quit worrying. I've seen the way you fight, relying on reflex and co-ordination, that's what ya need to fly a swoop." Zaalbar let out a low encouraging howl in agreement.

"I'll take your word for it."

"Thanks. And, well, if you're good, she's ready to race. All you gotta do is tell the announcer you want to go for your run."

"Right," Alexa replied quietly, tearing her gaze away from the swoop. The less she thought about it, and the quicker she got it over with, the sooner it would all be done with, and they'd manage to get Bastila. She walked slowly up the stairs to the main area, where race fans and gang members stood around, eyes fixated on view-screens overhead. Even during a Sith occupation, apparently this race was still the event of the year. She walked away from where the balcony hung over the pits, allowing fans to watch the oval track itself. Having to push past a few people, she made her way to the long counter that ran the length of the viewing area, showing off all of the things the winning team stood to gain, as well as having various people taking bets on the race, and the rodian overseeing racers she was headed for. Above the rodian was an electronic board displaying the number '88.76.'Alexa sidled up to the counter, and rested her arms upon it. She was about to speak when all thought abandoned her mind as she stared at a cage by the rodian.

Inside the cage, hanging from manacles was a woman. Her eyes were closed, and she wore only a collar and her underwear, which left her somewhat pleasing form open to viewers, shapely but lightly athletic in tone, which Alexa did have to appreciate slightly. However it was her face that took Alexa's breath away from her; her youthful skin was framed in shoulder-length auburn hair, kept in two flicks at the front, and a ponytail at the back. Her features were almost regal, perfectly proportioned, and beneath the closed eyelids Alexa knew were held orbs of palest blue. It wasn't her beauty that astounded Alexa, it was the deep fact that she _knew_ her, some part of her felt even then the woman's exhaustion, and her defiance as well. Somewhere within her mind drew out the images of a dream, a dream she had had many times, of this woman with a double-bladed lightsaber, standing in front of her, and then the agony beginning…..

There were untold depths of meaning scattered somewhere through her recollections, Alexa knew that, but what? What was it her subconscious was trying to tell her?

"Yes?" The voice brought Alexa crashing back to reality, and she remembered she was at the counter, and the rodian was staring at her after asking the question.

"Yes, sorry. I'm racing for the Beks; put me up for a slot."

"Right, you're up after this next lap, time to beat is 88.76 seconds. And stop staring at the woman, you can look all you want if you win, but right now you're holding me up." Alexa nodded, and stepped away, tearing her eyes from the caged Jedi. As she headed back to the Beks' pit, her mind reeled with an imperative: to win. Before now, she knew she needed to win, for the Republic. But now she had an outright _need_ to, she needed to speak to this Jedi woman, to find out what any of this meant.

She was going to win this thing, by any means necessary.

Alexa settled into the rough cockpit of the swoop, while Mission hung over the side explaining the controls.

"Basic swoop control," she yelled over the roar of the engines, "control sticks, let you steer. Left foot pedal, accelerator, keep that pressed down as soon as you start. Right foot pedal, shifter, lets you shift a gear when the revs get high, button on the right control stick is up a gear, what you're gonna need, left stick is down, for when you stop at the end of your lap. Middle pedal is the brake; don't use it unless you really need it, chance of chucking you out of the swoop. Good luck." Alexa wasn't overly happy at the last comment as Mission jumped down off the vehicle. Seconds later a swoop swung past her field of view, crossing the line and ending their lap. In co-ordination with them crossing the line, Alexa's own swoop started moving on automatic magna-rails to the start/finish line. Stretched out before her, was a length of track littered with debris and obstacles, and she was very aware of the absolute lack of protection she had.

Her eyes drifted to the three lights overhead, the red one lit. As it switched to yellow, her hands firmly grasped the control sticks, her thoughts drifting to Bastila, the reasoning behind this, why she was participating in this insanity. At the green light her left foot hit the floor, taking the pedal down to the metal.

Her breath was blasted from her body at the sheer speed this thing accelerated at; she really hadn't appreciated earlier how fast these swoops went. Air buffed her face as she screamed towards the first obstacles, her hands shifting around the sticks desperately to keep her away from the deadly metal. As the engine's whine increased in pitch, she just remembered to shift up a gear, keeping the machine intact as she sped up the straight. The corner approached more quickly than she could have imagined, and suddenly she was banking up on a 30 degree angle, her control sticks pressed hard to the left, barely moving as she avoided more metal sheets, and shifted up again on exiting the curve.

Racing down the straight, she started looking ahead more, anticipating the moves rather than reacting to obstacles, making her path curve more rather than jerk away erratically. Somewhere down that straight, she reached a point where she could feel the beast of a machine beneath her, the engine screaming, and everything just fit into place there. There was no Republic, no Sith blockade overhead, no war, no stakes, just her and this swoop. _Freedom_. She took an almost lazy, low curve up to the very top of the bank of the other curve of the oval track, taking her to what had to have been above 50 or 60 degrees, the wind whipping her ponytail behind her, and a grin on her face as she turned, each hum and whine of the swoop music to her ears. Breaking out of the banking curve, she took the inside line, sweeping effortlessly around every obstacle, and screaming across the line with a speed she would never have thought possible from this thing that looked like it had been hauled together in a workshop overnight.

Almost reluctantly she began slowing down, sliding down onto the magna-rail off the track and back to the pits, the engines fading back to a content bellowing.

At the pits, she shut the engines down, slumping the swoop back onto its support legs in the Bek pit. As she climbed from the vehicle, she was half collided into by Mission.

"I knew it! Knew you'd be able to do it," the twi'lek said happily, hugging Alexa, something she certainly wasn't used to. Tentatively she returned the show of affection, embracing the teen's warm body. It felt good, and she was a little disappointed when Mission drew back. "Go upstairs and check your time out, I got a good feeling about that one."

Alexa took the teenager's advice, and climbed the steps once more to the balcony. As she once more approached the rodian overseer, she noted the time above his head had changed to '88.53.' That might just mean…

"Yes, your time is now the one to beat," the rodian said tiredly. "However that still doesn't give you a free card to stare at the winnings."

Alexa was just feeling to herself a bit of satisfaction about having beaten the par time on her first time out, when the numbers changed again to '88.28.' She turned around to look up at the view-screens and find out who it was that had set the new time when a man in Vulkar armour, with dark hair and skin sidled up to her with a sneer.

"How'd you like that rookie? Even with a new driver, Beks can't touch my gang's skill, and you certainly can't touch mine," by all description, the Vulkar leader Brejik was the one racing for them. Which made this gloating man the bastard heading up a gang that dealt in slavery.

"Brejik, right?" Alexa became aware of the fact that Mission had rolled up behind her, stopping when she saw the gang leader.

"Yeah, that's me. Also looks to me like you got some of my _property_ in that little girl there," he snarled malevolently.

"You lay a finger on her I cut off the hand, chakaaryc," _(low-life)_ she replied, hand now resting on the hilt of her rapier.

"Hey, hey, settle it out on the track," the rodian interjected, clearly not wanting an all-out brawl between gangs.

"Maybe you're right," she turned to Mission and decided to rile the slaving bastard up a bit though. "I think one practice run's enough don't you Mission?"

"Practice run?" Mission replied innocently, catching on immediately.

"Oh yeah," she turned to Brejik's angry countenance, "didn't I mention that was my first ever time in a swoop? Hey, you, put me down for another lap."

Without further bothering Alexa swaggered back on the way to the Beks pit, Mission beside her as they left a simmering gang-leader behind them.

#############################################################################################

As Alexa climbed from the swoop's seat for a second time, Mission was outright bouncing on her heels and beaming. The few Beks who were standing around a view-screen in the corner stared at her as she made for the stairs, wanting to find out her time in that _beast_ of a machine. As she emerged from the stairs onto the balcony, people started cheering and whooping around her, clearing a path towards the rodian.

'85.12' flashed above the announcer's head.

Oh _hell_ yes. That felt good.

"Three whole seconds," Mission said gleefully behind her. "That's gotta be a record or something." Alexa had eyes only for the seething gang-leader; she took great satisfaction in every shade of red he turned.

"So, what was that about not being able to match your skill?" she inquired in a faux-innocent voice. Brejik instead of replying to her turned to the announcer.

"The Hidden Beks cheated, I'm withdrawing the Vulkar and our stake in the race. Give us the woman back."

"No, no all stakes in the race cannot be withdrawn once the day begins, you cannot." The announcer was firm, but he looked slightly scared by the fuming man.

"They used a prototype accelerator!" he growled out.

"All's fair in love and war Brejik, take it like a man," Alexa said scornfully, she held no pity for the bastard. He however gave a scream of inarticulate rage and drew something from within his armour.

Alexa flipped backwards, barely avoiding the swing of the now lit double-sided lightsaber, its yellow blades slicing through the air. Right now she wished she hadn't had to leave her weapons behind to get into the swoop. She faced the brute as he advanced on her, making a slash at her with one side of the saber. She ducked beneath the high blow, and backpedalled as the other side came down where she used to be. She was unarmed and facing an opponent with one of the finest weapons in the galaxy. But he had no skill. Alexa did.

At his next slash she slipped inside the blade's reach, pushing herself backwards against his body much as she had done with Starkiller, and managed to slap away Brejik's hand from the lightsaber, taking the lit weapon in her own. Twirling with the swiftness of a dancer she sliced the yellow blade through his unprotected neck. His head rolled for a bit as his body slumped to the ground. Keeping the light saber out, she turned to the rodian announcer.

"Since I think you'll agree that my time is not going to be beaten," she said as she used her free arm to slip herself over the counter to where he stood, "I'm going to be claiming my prize now." She stepped towards the cage from which pale blue eyes regarded her carefully. She couldn't keep her eyes off the woman hanging in the cage as she herself regarded Alexa, those eyes strong despite the dirt and scratches covering her body. The woman spoke as Alexa cut the lock of the cage with a sweep of the lightsaber blade.

"If you think I'm going to be some prize joy-girl for you, then you have another thing coming," her voice was clear and feminine, her accent and clarity slightly hinting a good upbringing.

"I don't think anything like that, only that I would like you to hold still," she replied quietly as she carefully touched the lightsaber blade to the manacles holding her up and the collar at her neck. The woman pulled off the remnants of the metal collar, and rubbed her wrists to get some feeling back into the sore looking flesh. Alexa turned off the lightsabers twin blades, and proffered it to her. The Jedi stared into Alexa's eyes for a long moment before taking the weapon, moving to hook it on her belt before realising she was still in her underwear and very much exposed. Alexa wordlessly pulled off her own black coat with its armoured underlay, and handed it to the woman who gratefully accepted, shrugging on the long piece of clothing that was just a little too large for her shorter frame, but at least covered her dignity as she closed the buttons that Alexa usually kept open, preferring to leaving the coat hanging at the sides personally, but wearing only underwear beneath meant Bastila was hardly likely to do the same.

"My name's Alexa, and I'll give you some answers once we're out of here, but first I'd like to get my friends and my weapons." She climbed back over the counter as she commented, acutely feeling the eyes of the many race fans on her.

"Bast-," the woman began to reply with her own name.

"I know who you are, and here is not a good place to speak," Alexa cut the Jedi off with a whisper. She almost looked like she wished to attack her for giving her a command, but relented and slipped over the desk to join her as she cut through the crowd back to the Hidden Beks pit, Mission standing by the entryway.

"Get Zaalbar, we're heading back upstairs," Alexa said to the twi'lek, who nodded and quickly walked down the stairs, closely followed by Alexa and Bastila. As the great wookie got off of his pile of crates, Alexa grabbed an old pair of racer's boots from a corner, and threw them to Bastila, who started putting the old leather things on. She herself made her way to where her weapons lay, and strapped the vibro weaponry back onto her loose belt where they belonged, instantly feeling better with her weapons by her side as she slipped Bendak's pistol back onto the rear of her belt.

With her effects gathered she moved to the back of the pit, where a door lead to the long passage beyond with elevators back to the lower-city.

"Come on, we can talk once we're in an elevator," Alexa said, making for one of the spacious pods on the other side of the corridor. Having to be big enough to accommodate a swoop bike, there was easily enough room for the four of them, even with Zaalbar among their number. Said wookie punched the button of the elevator, and the doors hissed shut. The pod started moving upwards slowly, taking them that much closer to sunlight once again.

"Bastila Shan, meet Mission Vao and Zaalbar. Mission and Zaalbar, meet Jedi knight Bastila Shan," Alexa made the introductions as her companions studied each other. Bastila whirled on her when she mentioned her being a Jedi knight.

"You can't just go around saying that, if people know we're with the Republic we're at risk," there was the authoritarian tone of one used to being in command.

"Bastila, without these two's help you would currently either be dancing for the Vulkar or being shipped off to the Sith up above once they worked out who you were. I place my full trust in them," she stood up to the Jedi woman. She was younger than Alexa had expected, in her early twenties, maybe twenty-two?

"Yeah, we aren't about to sell you to those Sith slime upstairs," Mission piped up, her proclamation backed up by a roar from Zaalbar behind her shoulder. Having a wookie to second you was very effective at making a point.

"Well, I suppose I should probably thank you then Mission Vao and Zaalbar, for helping get me away from those disgusting Vulkar," she relented, smiling at the pair. "But, ah, I might want to amend my introduction and say I am a padawan, not a knight quite yet."

"I'd have thought you were more than old enough to be a knight," Alexa commented. She nearly missed the slight grimace in the expression of the young woman at her words.

"That may be, but war is a difficult time for such things. Now I must ask, were there any other survivors from the Endar Spire?"

"As far as we know, you, myself and Carth Onasi are the only survivors."

"Carth Onasi? Some good news at least," she said looking thoughtful. Mission however snorted slightly and muttered something about 'Fleet-boy.' "Show some respect child; Carth Onasi is a seasoned commander of the Republic fleet." Mission looked much as she had when Carth had kept calling her 'kid', but Alexa stepped in first.

"She's not a child Bastila. And I would actually agree with her, maybe a good pilot or tactician in space battles, take most any fleet commander in situation such as him and they prove as unknowledgeable as he has so far, not to mention he seems to have some personal problem with everyone he comes across."

"That could be regarded as insubordination Captain Varos," Alexa was surprised at the use of her surname and rank, neither of which she had given the woman.

"Bastila, we are on an outer-rim world, full of gangs, criminals and racists. There is a Sith blockade overhead, and their full occupation of the city under martial law, and upon rescuing you Onasi has been totally out of his depth. If you wish to defend his sense as a fleet commander, then go ahead, but he is still someone who did not think to the fact he was walking around in Republic uniform with his _name_ and _rank_ plastered across it until I pointed it out to him. Not to mention his first thought about me was whether or not I had called a Sith attack upon the Endar Spire, and still doesn't trust me. I left him in our apartment in the low city to hopefully come to his senses and stop berating those who are supposedly allies to him." She finished her tirade against the man to Bastila's sculpted raised eyebrow.

"Opinion duly noted, Captain," she said softly, though she said nothing against Alexa's opinions themselves.

"I'd prefer Alexa, especially as referring to a military rank is conspicuous in a place like this right now."

"Very well then, Alexa."

The elevator made a short noise, and they emerged onto the floor of their apartment in the low city. Before entering the room, Alexa stopped to grab a few clothes from the twi'lek merchant's stall, wordlessly dropping a few hundred-credit chits on his stall, and made for the apartment. When the door opened, Alexa had a feeling of Déjà vu as they entered to find Carth on a chair, cleaning a blaster. He stood up and saluted before Bastila as she walked in.

"At ease commander, ah, I mean Carth," she said after a look from Alexa reminding her of the military title. Alexa took the pile of clothes she had bought from the twi'lek and handed them over to the woman. Bastila took off the coat, handing it back to Alexa, and began changing into the new garments. Alexa had bought the Jedi some simple clothes, a pair of tan trousers, a white short-sleeved top and a loose brown leather jacket. Combined with the old leather boots, they made her look like a spacer, and the jacket hid the lightsaber she carried on her belt.

"Right, since we've rescued Bastila that's our first objective completed, we now need to look at getting off planet." Alexa set about their first order of business.

"Where is it we're going?" Mission piped up, slightly surprising Alexa. She had sadly expected the twi'lek to stay on Taris, though she supposed it wasn't exactly the most pleasant place to live, and she did have a gang after her blood, and she was an alien in a racist society... Actually there was practically no reason for her to stay thinking about it.

"We need to go to the Jedi enclave on Dantooine," Bastila replied as she shrugged on the jacket, completing her new outfit. Though she wouldn't admit it, Alexa didn't half mind looking at the woman; something just connected with her…

"Where we're going is secondary. Right now with a Sith blockade overhead, we have to deal with that first. All traffic on or off the planet is cancelled, and anyone setting off without proper authorization will be blasted out of the sky as soon as they're around the lower atmosphere. Not to mention, we don't even have a ship to fly in the first place," Alexa's practical mind set about weighing up the options, voicing her opinions as she thought of them.

"Do we have enough credits to pay to pay for a ship? Or places on a transport?" Bastila responded. Alexa was going to protest against trusting the latter when a knock sounded at the door. Everyone froze, and turned their heads towards the durasteel. Alexa was the first to move, opening the door just a bit to let herself out while not exposing her companions within. A young twi'lek girl stood in the corridor, purple-skinned and thin-looking she had to be around thirteen years old.

"Err," the girl said, looking Alexa up and down, doubtless taking in the weaponry by her side and her tall stature. She took in a deep breath and tried to speak calmly. "Canderous Ordo requests the Mysterious Stranger to join him at Jayvar's cantina." Alexa absorbed the information with an unmoving face.

"Did he say when?"

"He said to come now if convenient, and if inconvenient to come anyway."

"Anything else?"

"N-no," she stuttered out. Alexa fished a hundred credit chit from one of her deep pockets and placed it in the girl's hand.

"Run along now," she said softly, and the girl did just that after smiling happily down at the credits. Alexa slipped back into the apartment with a contemplative look on her face.

"Who is Canderous Ordo?" Bastila inquired.

"He works for Davik, local crime-lord. He's known as the muscle from Mandalore around here," Mission said.

"What would he want with us? Do you think he knows…?" Carth left the question hanging in the air, the ending obvious.

"He doesn't want to speak to you; he wants to speak to me."

"But why?" Bastila said, eyeing Alexa.

"Because Mando'ade aren't that common around here most likely," she said softly, the name feeling right on her tongue, Child of Mandalore. It felt right to her. Dreams of the slave compound, and the Mandalorian who was birth father it seemed, floated through her mind, as did the harsh training in Mando'a from the quartermaster. She had been raised in the culture of the planet Mandalore, speaking the language, fighting and living like one in several respects, even if it was as a slave. Beyond that her recollections were hazy, but she was born at least half Mandalorian, though blood purity mattered little in Mando culture, anyone being able to be adopted as Mandalorian, or to don their armour and become one.

"Well, I guess the best move is for us to go down and meet him then," Carth said, standing up from his chair, but Alexa held a hand out.

"No, I'll be going alone. You all should get some rest, especially you Bastila."

"Now wait a minute," Carth started, "you want us to let you go down and speak to some Mandalorian on your own? How are we supposed to know you aren't selling us out or something?"

"Kriffing hell," she swore in response. "When are you going to stop accusing me Carth? I am not in league with the Sith or anyone else. And besides, unless you suddenly started speaking Mando'a since I last checked, you're not going to be able to understand anything anyway." Carth looked to be about to jump down her throat again when Bastila of all people stopped him.

"Carth, she has done nothing to seem untrustworthy so far, and has indeed managed to rescue me from those gang members. I would say give the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I agree I could use a rest." Alexa nodded to the woman gratefully, and stepped out of the door once again, beginning the walk to the Cantina on the other side of the low-city. Time to meet the scion of clan Ordo.

#############################################################################################

The cantina was just as smoky and dimly lit as the last time she had been there, and the patrons were inter-changeable with those from before. She headed for the bar, intending to get a drink.

" _Over here_ ," a gruff voice called from the side of the room in Mando'a. Alexa turned to view Canderous Ordo. The man sat in a small booth in the shadows of the cantina, but her eyes were more than able to make out his features. He had the stereotypical look of a grizzled veteran, a grey buzz cut of hair, light stubble, a scar above his eye, not to mention the large repeating blaster, of Mandalorian make she noted, by his feet and the large sword on his belt.

"Canderous Ordo," she stated, moving to take the seat opposite the man. He grinned, and shoved a black hunk of meat from a plate in front of him into his mouth.

" _And you're the 'Mysterious Stranger_ ,'" he replied, taking a swig of his drink from a large tankard, a double of which sat by her own seat Alexa noted.

" _Call me_ Alexa."

" _Take a drink; you're fond of the local ale according to the barman so I got you one_." She warily eyed the dark liquid, sipped lightly, and when she could detect no foreign elements in the drink downed a large gulp.

" _So that's what this stuff is. I just asked for whatever was strongest_ ," she commented, setting the tankard down again. He chuckled in his deep voice at her words.

" _Spoken like a true child of Mandalore_ ," he said.

" _Well as one, shall we cut the small talk? What does the muscle for the local crime chief want with an arena dueller?"_

" _I'm not here for him, I'm here for me_ ," he punctuated by stabbing another piece of meat with his fork, chewing it off the implement while gazing at her. " _Since you took out that old warrior in the arena I've been keeping an eye on you, especially since you spoke as one of us in front of_ Jayvar _over there. Taking on the whole of that Hutt's duelling ring, descending into the low city with an access card you managed to gain somehow. Working for a gang, breaking into a base, while killing everyone inside. Then you went and won that race, killing a guy with a lightsaber while you were unarmed, and releasing the Jedi woman."_

" _What's it to you?_ " she tried to sound nonchalant, but inside she was clenching, he knew exactly what she'd been doing. Had she been so easy to track?

" _Everything,_ " he said seriously, setting down his fork and taking another swig of ale. " _I've been stuck here for a while now, working for_ Davik _. All I do is go around, maybe threaten or beat up someone who crosses the man; I've become a damn debt collector. There's no glory here, there's nothing for me except credits and drink._ " Alexa regarded the man carefully, and took another swig of her own drink.

" _So what are you proposing?_ " she asked carefully.

" _I look at you, and I see a warrior who's walked battlefields and is looking to walk into this war between the Sith and the Republic. That's a cause I could follow, to fight for the glory of Mandalore in battles to define this new age. Here's the deal: I can get you a ship to get off this rock, the Ebon Hawk, fastest ship in Davik's arsenal. In return, you take me with you to these battlefields you're headed for_." Alexa leant back and considered the offer. She was sure she could trust him with this deal, he wasn't lying, plus going back on a deal to a fellow Mando was a thing few would do. It was tempting for sure, a fast ship and a capable warrior to boot, though it wasn't entirely full way off the planet.

" _What about the authorization codes?_ " she asked. They'd need to be broadcasting those codes to avoid being blasted out of the sky as they were setting off.

" _That's the hitch, you'll need to break into the Sith base. Straight up frontal assault, and get the codes from their computers_."

" _And how do you propose we get into there?_ "

" _Davik had a specialist droid being built by a girl in the up city, you can take it off her and use it to break in and get the codes. Once you got them, you come down here and find me; I take you to Davik offering you as new possible muscle, we take the Hawk and leave Taris far behind_."

Alexa sat for a long moment mulling over the idea. It did solve all their problems in getting off Taris in one fell swoop. Eventually she reached out a hand to the man, who took ahold of it firmly.

" _Truth, honour, vision,_ " they said together, then released their hands. Canderous smiled, and proffered his tankard, which she hit her own against. Together they drank to the success of the deal they'd made.

 **A/N: Cutting off the chapter there, next time, raiding Sith base.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Chapter 6, and this time you get to actually see the attack on the base. Little bit of a time skip, but that's just editing out some filler. Also, do note this is based off my memory from when I played the game, so I'm just rolling with the stuff I do remember.**

Chapter Six

Alexa decapitated the Sith soldier who guarded the door to their base before he could even move.

"You're up TeeThree," she said to behind her, where the little utility droid beeped and moved to access the command port, while Bastila and Mission waited behind her. Mission was there to access computers if TeeThree wasn't up to what Canderous had said, and Bastila because she had insisted. Alexa felt slightly crowded with three companions, people like her worked best with smaller groups, preferably with only one to two fighters with her. Still, with Mission wielding an Echani rifle Alexa had bought her, and the droid with short range weapons linked into its targeting system, along with a whole host of other devices its creator claimed, they had two ranged and two melee fighters, so this would be balanced at least.

After an awkward minute of waiting, the door hissed open to reveal the entrance room. Alexa wasted no time in dashing forward to plant her rapier in the chest of the woman at the front desk, stopping her from raising the alarm on the computers. She gurgled in surprise as her life suddenly began slipping away; blood flowing out once Alexa withdrew her blade. Two Sith troopers that had stood by the doors had already been taken out by Mission and Bastila when she got up.

"Right; Mission, work on disabling comms, stop them from calling for help from the fleet; TeeThree, try and find that authorization code in the system," Alexa commanded quickly, time was of the essence. She stepped back from the computer as the pair went to work, Mission splicing in, while the droid accessed a port lower down.

Mission stepped back after a few moments of furious typing, and only TeeThree remained connected to the system. Eventually he burbled a negative response, stating the code was on a ghost system he couldn't access from here.

"So we need to find the actual computer it's stored on?" Alexa asked, scowling when he beeped an affirmative. "Somehow I knew we'd end up just having to go all the way in," she muttered, heading for the nearest door. It opened silently into a long corridor, which ended in a reinforced door up ahead. Also in the corridor was a black-suited Sith trooper with a heavy carbine. He was just readying it to fight them when a bolt from Mission hit his head, flipping him over backwards.

"Good shot," Alexa murmured to the twi'lek.

"Z taught me how to shoot accurately with his bowcaster," she replied.

Alexa would likely have quipped a response if a side door hadn't opened and released another seven troopers into the room, most likely having heard the blaster shot.

The fight was short to say the least, as Alexa and Bastila moved quickly to mow down the men with their quick moving blades. It was interesting to see Bastila fight: she moved with the grace of a natural-born predator, and though she had heard the same said about herself, Bastila seemed to embody a more dancer-like stance than Alexa did. Where Alexa was the tusk-cat who was lithe, and athletic but attacked enemies head-on, Bastila darted in and out with occasional flourish, putting Alexa more in mind of some kind of bird quickly jabbing in.

Once the men were put down, with as little noise as possible, none of them said a word as they opened the door at the end of the corridor. They entered into some kind of detention room, where hard-light cages lined the walls. Facing them was an elite trooper, marked by his red armour, and another pair of normal guards.

Alexa instantly ran forwards for the elite, being the biggest threat to them. She dodged to the left when he fired off a blast from his rifle; she brought up her sword to cut the weapon in two. He tried to move backwards, but her rapier cleaved through an open spot on his shoulder unprotected by armour, allowing her to slice him down his chest, swiftly ending his life. Bastila had simply sliced her trooper in two, while Mission again gave a head-shot to the remaining soldier. That girl was a decent shot, that much could be said.

"Which way?" Alexa directed the question at the droid, due to the two exits from the room. TeeThree moved towards the right hand door, burbling happily. When Alexa looked that way she felt something, a _presence_. Dark, malevolent, not exactly focused, just a vague sensation of what was down that way.

"There's something weird about that way," Alexa murmured, mostly to herself. The sensation was familiar to say the least, but she couldn't place it.

"What you feel is the dark side of the force," Bastila said, walking over to open the door, revealing a curved corridor. "That you can sense it is… interesting."

"Are you about to say I should be a Jedi?" she replied, walking past Bastila into the corridor. There was plenty of things Alexa was and had been, some of which she was still only trying to rediscover, but someone to sit up on high and do nothing while the galaxy turned towards war, spouting crap about the Force working in mysterious ways was not something she would ever do. Wait, where had those ideas come from? When did she form that opinion of the Jedi? True enough they had stayed out of the Mandalorian war until Revan disobeyed the order and joined the fight, but when did Alexa herself gain such opinions?

"Well, your presence in the force is undeniable," Bastila replied, bringing Alexa crashing back to reality from her own thoughts. How many times had she got lost in her own head recently? "Though a Jedi I am not so sure, you are far too old for training naturally. And I feel as though you are not quite… not quite as Jedi applicants tend to be, you are clouded by anger often, your presence is somewhat dark actually. Standing nearby you is like being near a maelstrom of…" Bastila trailed off, and grimaced, obviously saying more than she had meant to.

"Well, that part of the Jedi ways always astounded me. Emotions are part of what makes us sentient, separates us from beasts. If you have no emotion, how can you feel compassion? Or love? How can you even understand your fellow beings if you are being forced to be something inhuman." The words came from some part of her that was being released, and they flowed without Alexa's permission. She agreed with them though, wholeheartedly, they were definitely her own opinions, though when they formed was again a mystery to her.

"Anger is dangerous, so is love. They can lead to the dark side."

"'Can' being the operative word there," Alexa raised her facial mark for lack of an eyebrow. "Granted people do terrible things in the name of love, but so can they do beautiful things."

"I agree with Alexa. You can't not feel stuff, that's trying to make yourself someone else, someone you're not." Mission said quietly from behind, inputting her view into the philosophical conversation.

Bastila didn't get the chance to make a response as they stood before a door at the end of the corridor. While no different to the others, it had a sense of foreboding due to what lay beyond. Bastila shivered slightly, the movement travelling down her spine. Alexa however felt no fear or such towards the darkness beyond, only trepidation, and the faint echo of the familiar.

Pressing the door release revealed a room that was an odd shape, sloping towards a point on front of them while computer banks lined the angled walls. More importantly however were the two black-robed men in front of them, who were smiling darkly. One was very similar to the man she had fought on the Endar Spire; the other held the markings of a dark Jedi master. Both of them held a lit red lightsaber in hand, clearly ready for their appearance.

The apprentice grinned, and dashed for Alexa, most likely expecting an easy fight as he slashed at her from above. Alexa simply held the blow on her rapier, pushing back up against his arm with her strong muscles. He tried to draw back but a quick slash from her sword up high severed his hand from its arrogant owner. He screamed, clutching the stump as she ran him through with her rapier. The disadvantage of robes: no armour protection, not that it would have done him any good against her. She withdrew her blade to find the master duelling with Bastila, sweeping in and keeping the woman occupied with her shorter reach of the twin blades.

Alexa started walking over to the duelling pair when the dark Jedi cast a hand towards her, and blue lightning enveloped her form. Agony ripped through her body, but she did not fall. This pain was familiar, so familiar, like that of the collar long ago. At the memories, anger welled up deep in her soul as it had when she had seen the gamorreans, as it had when she had seen that slave girl being used. Alexa glared at the man as she brought up her hand, working only on primal instinct. She pushed her very will and anger into the power attacking her, using the fury the association with the collar brought. She gave a cry of desperation and _pushed_ outwards. A small disc of energy coalesced before her hand as she roared, reflecting the lightning back at its producer, catching him unawares as the electric power froze his body. With a triumphant stab, Bastila moved forwards, ending the man's life. The Jedi switched her blade off, dropping his limp form to the floor, and turned to stare at Alexa.

"How did you… I've never seen such instinctive use of the force," the woman was shocked to be sure.

"She surprises us all Bastila. C'mon TeeThree let's get that code." Mission said from where she had stood back from the fight, her blaster being little use against dark Jedi. She and the droid set about a computer with gusto, working in time with each other to hack the system.

Alexa sheathed her blades, and knelt down to retrieve the fallen lightsabers of the two dark Jedi.

"What are you doing?" Bastila said, but Alexa ignored her, her focus on the two silver cylinders. Basic lightsabers, with no extra crystals apart from the focus. Straightening up she lit the two blades, and swung them around a bit, instinctively feeling up the weapons, moving forward in a few practice forms. Her movements quickly became the full swings and stabs of fighting imaginary enemies, her body sweeping through the air, the lightsabers an extension of her arms.

"Djem so, Ataru, Juyo…" Bastila murmured to herself as Alexa twirled with the sabers, moving from one form to another unpredictably and instinctively, channelling power into the two red blades as she spun. She followed through on moves from different styles of fighting, Mandalorian, Jedi, anything and everything she had ever experienced, always switching, never predictable, becoming a swiftly moving dance as her muscles completed the movements that even her brain was struggling to comprehend.

This was _not_ the first time she had held a lightsaber. Of that Alexa was sure. Where in her scattered memories had she ever wielded the weapon of a force user?

"Got it," Mission's words brought Alexa from her self-governed thoughts. She turned to find Bastila and Mission staring at her. Alexa turned off the blades and pocketed them in her long black coat.

"Let's go," she said simply.

#############################################################################################

Getting back to the low city had been interesting, along with picking up everyone on the way. But now Alexa stood before Davik Kang, crime boss of Taris. He wore light red armour over his not exactly prime form; he must have been over sixty at least, with receding dark grey hair and wrinkled skin. He was still dangerous though.

"Meet Alexa, also known as the Mysterious Stranger to the arena fans," Canderous introduced her, leaving out the rest of her group who stood behind her.

"It's not like you to take on partners Canderous, you must be getting soft," Calo Nord spoke up. Alexa wasn't a fan of the short bounty hunter, she had seen him count to three and gun down a pair of people in Jayvar's cantina the day before. She had no wish to deal with a short man with a shorter temper who was obviously compensating for something with all that armour and the eye goggles and superiority attitude, even if he was supposedly one of the galaxy's best bounty hunters.

"Well, with a recommendation from Canderous, and a background check, you stand a good chance of getting a position within the Exchange. That's something a lot of people would kill for." Kang dropped the name of the great crime organization as if it would impress her, but she kept her expression neutral. "But, who are your companions exactly?"

"Various people I have on my payroll who help me tackle pretty much any job in the galaxy," Alexa was running with the profile of being a bounty hunter from the other side of the rim, stranded here on Taris. Of course her story wouldn't check out once Kang ran the background check, but hopefully they'd be gone by then.

"You need a team with you in order to get the job done?" Nord said contemptuously.

"No, they just make it simpler. Here I have muscle, techie, pilot and a healer," she replied, gesturing to Zaalbar, Mission, Carth and Bastila in turn. "One determined individual can do a lot, but a team of determined people can achieve anything." The belief was her own, made it easier to sell to someone if you believed what you were saying.

"Well, we'll see what you can achieve hopefully. I look forward to adding a second Mandalorian to my payroll." Alexa nodded at the man, managing to not let her disgust for him show. "Canderous here will show you to the guest quarters while we run the check. Don't attempt to do anything stupid by the way, my guards shoot first and ask questions later."

With that the slimy man and his pet bounty hunter walked off through a door to the private side of Davik's top floor of a skyscraper. Really, he was the stereotypical mob boss; lots of hired grunts and a penthouse floor of one of the city's richest buildings. As soon as he was gone, Alexa turned to Canderous.

"So, which way to the hangar?"

"Closest corridor is via the guest wing, then past the barracks and straight into the hangar."

"Past the barracks? That hardly seems a good idea." Carth interjected, somewhat predictably.

"Well, we'll just have to be quiet and not inform them that we're around won't we?" Alexa replied irritably. She'd be glad to get off this damn rock, and she was very tired of Carth's whining.

Canderous led the way without further ado, his repeating blaster in hand. Everyone had their weapons out, but Alexa felt slightly odd wielding her vibro-weapons once more. What once had felt feather-light was now cumbersome in comparison with the lightsabers she took off those dark Jedi, which were still stored in one of her coat's deep pockets.

Corridors twisted around, and Alexa and Bastila silently dispatched any guard they came across before a single blaster bolt could be fired. They almost made it to the hangar when everything shook, and the group staggered on their feet, barring TeeThree who merely rocked a bit.

"What the hell was that?" Carth said as the floor shook again, slightly less this time.

"I don't know but I think we should hurry up rather than sit around," Alexa replied, following Canderous to the hangar bay doors. They opened to reveal the Ebon Hawk itself.

The ship was well made, Alexa had to give it that, built for speed obviously, being able to outrun the authorities while smuggling no doubt. However Alexa was disappointed by the lack of weaponry it afforded: a quad gun turret on top, with two light repeaters and what looked like a missile tube locked in place on front below the cockpit. Furthermore, she lacked the side boosters that allowed for quicker manoeuvrability, relying only on two huge boosters that allowed the ship its speed. The floor rocked again, and when they steadied they noticed they were faced by a pair who had opened the door on the other side of the hangar: Kang and Nord.

"Well, looks like someone strayed from the guest quarters. If you think you're escaping this bombardment in my ship you can forget it," the criminal growled out, pulling a blaster from his back. Calo as well drew his twin pistols and prepared to fight.

Alexa was dashing forward when the building shook again, this time more violently, and the shockwave coming from above rather than below. A great chunk of the ceiling far above smashed down upon Calo Nord, burying the bounty hunter. Kang was momentarily stunned and staring upwards when his head snapped back with the force of a blaster bolt among a flurry of them. Alexa wasn't entirely sure if it was Mission or Canderous' shot, but she wasn't about to stick around to find out.

"Everybody, move!" she said quickly, sheathing her weapons and running towards the ship, wary of any other pieces of falling building damaging the precious ship. Swiftly her athletic legs carried her up the boarding ramp and into the fairly spacious interior of the ship. She dashed for the cockpit, immediately seating herself in the pilot's chair.

"TeeThree, start inputting that auth code, Mission, input hyperspace co-ords for Dantooine, Canderous, top gun pod, Bastila, you're riding shotgun," Alexa barked the commands as she flicked the various switches to bring the ship to life, closing the loading ramp and firing up the engines.

"Hey, what about me? I'm the damn pilot here," Carth protested. Alexa smiled somewhat as she began moving the ship to hover above the floor of the hangar as an explosion rippled somewhere nearby.

"You can go sit in the back and get out of the way, I'm flying this right now," she said simply, and boosted the ship out of the hangar. "Bastila, start broadcasting those codes or else this'll be a real short trip."

Alexa was prepared to swing upwards into the upper atmosphere when her body tensed, and she pulled the ship out to the side to avoid a great green bolt of energy. Scanning the horizon her mouth gaped to see dozens of such bolts scattering across the surface of Taris, levelling buildings and causing fires.

"They're bombarding the whole planet…" Bastila said, equally as shocked.

"Apparently they don't want to risk us getting out of here alive," Alexa commented, as she put the nose of the ship up into the sky.

Shooting upwards and gaining speed they passed through the atmosphere to space itself, where they could see the Sith cruisers raining fire down on the planet below.

"Preparing for jump to hyperspace," Bastila said, hands dancing over controls next to Alexa.

"We're not jumping," Alexa said, turning the ship towards the flagship of the fleet: the _Leviathan_ itself.

"What are you doing?" the Jedi demanded.

"Getting their attention," Alexa replied, hands twisting on the control sticks as a group of fighters washed over them. Canderous yelled out in glee as the quad cannons pounded away above them, fighters exploding with every shot. He was a Mandalorian all right. Alexa continued their course straight for the Leviathan, twisting and rolling around to avoid fighters but continuing on her path as the great ship loomed towards them.

"Malak's on-board that ship," Bastila whispered. She could feel him as well, almost like Bastila had described Alexa; a maelstrom of darkness radiating from the bridge of the ship before them.

"Fire missile," Alexa commanded as they dashed towards the bridge; rolling to avoid another two fighters.

"They'll have shields-," Bastila protested before Alexa cut her off.

"I said fire missile."

A proton torpedo launched itself from underneath the cockpit towards the bridge of the Leviathan. Alexa snap turned before getting too close to the ship, watching the missile explode harmlessly against the shields around the bridge. Alexa simply smiled, tipping the ship upside down as they ran towards the tip of the Leviathan.

"Alright Canderous, let fire rain upon them!" she shouted out, grinning as the quad cannons fired again and again, scoring dozens of hits into the main body of the ship, taking out a number of the turbo-laser arrays that had been firing at the planet. "Malak can't think tactics for shit," Alexa explained absent-mindedly to Bastila, "pulls energy from the rest of the ship to shield the bridge, leaves the main body wide open for attack."

Upon reaching the end of the ship, Alexa rolled them back over to spin away from the planet and into space. She noted none of the interdictors were firing on Taris anymore, all attention focused on the Ebon Hawk. The space around them was quickly lit up with turbo-laser fire that Alexa masterfully avoided, spinning and snap-turning to bring two pursuing fighters to actually crash into each other trying to follow them. The ship responded around Alexa as she pushed it to its limits, breaking off in complex manoeuvres that had the ion drives whining in protest.

In a practically suicidal move to throw off her attackers she turned back for one of the interdictors pursuing them. Again, she spun upside down and let Canderous pump bolts into the main body of the ship, the energy spilling off the energy shield as they expected her to use the same tactic as on the Leviathan. Alexa spun the ship in a roll to face the bridge, smiling grimly.

"Fire missile," she ordered clearly, peeling away as another proton torpedo launched from under the cockpit. This one however connected, and the bridge exploded outwards in a flash of light. She _had_ used the same trick, just in reverse. The interdictor cruiser slowly began to be pulled into gravity's grasp having lost all the controls that had been in the bridge, along with the commanders.

"Alright, jump to hyperspace, we got their attention alright."

Light around the ship began to blur into lines as they lurched forward, the drive engaging. Alexa slumped backwards in her seat, the weight of the intense space battle suddenly pressing on her.

"In hyperspace, six hours to Dantooine," Mission stated from the nav-controls.

"Do you want to explain why you put us all in danger engaging the _entire_ blockade like that?" Bastila inquired, her Jedi mask clearly flustered.

"We got their attention. And since we had their attention, they stopped bombarding the planet. We just saved a few million people's lives Bastila, _and_ managed to escape Taris." Alexa stated clearly. The Jedi looked stunned, like she had suddenly been told that up was down and she was sitting on the ceiling. "Now, I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep. Someone come and wake me up before we reach Dantooine," Alexa stated, standing up and moving to head for the back of the ship, in search of some bunks.

#############################################################################################

Freedom. _The sheer idea of it coursed through Alexa's veins as she stood around the remains of a number of guards. Her neck was bare for the first time in seventeen years, she was her own woman, and so she had returned here._

 _Slowly she ambled forwards, stepping over the slain, those she had put to the sword, her twin blades coated in their blood. Her attention briefly focused on a yellow-armoured helmet, once belonging to the quartermaster who had taught her in the ways of the Mando'ade, and brutally trained her to become a weapon. The bone of his spine was visible where she had cleaved his head from his shoulders._

 _Her head snapped forwards at the creaking of the great doors of the main building opening, the sound echoing around the compound. There emerged from the large doors a man in red Neo-Crusader armour, still worn after all the years of disgrace._

"Aron Fett. I told you I would claim your blood," _she said clearly in Mando'a, gazing upon the man with all the hatred she could muster._

"And carnage follows, my daughter." _She snarled in an animalistic way at his response._

"You are _not_ my father. You put a collar on me, enslaved me, sold me," _she held up her right sword to the man._ "You burned your mark into my skin. And blood begets blood."

 _Slowly he drew his long-sword, readying it before himself as many of his men had done mere moments before. Alexa gave a cry of sheer rage and leapt at the person that had caused all the hurt and pain in her life._

#############################################################################################

 _Walking away from the compound was an almost surreal experience, her head light and her mind distant from her body._

 _Slightly absent-mindedly Alexa considered the gates to what once was the Fett compound. Smeared across the iron gates was the word 'Dar'manda', in crimson red, and in front of them, a sword was stuck into the ground. Upon it the still armoured head of Aron Fett dripped blood into the mud._

 _Alexa turned on her heel and walked away from the place where she had been born._

#############################################################################################

 _Hunger gnawed at Alexa's stomach angrily, she couldn't remember the last time she had fed. Her feet crunched softly into the snow of a back-alley, her once strong muscles weak. No-one would hire a seventeen-year-old bounty hunter, and with little money she had grown weaker for lack of food._

 _It was almost ironic; her mind acknowledged as she shifted the skimpy clothing she was wearing, feeling naked without her weapons. Ironic that now she was about to put to use those skills they had taught her as a body slave. The skills she had outright refused to use when she was property, no matter how much punishment it brought her._

 _But her stomach was empty, that was what mattered as Alexa stepped out onto one of the less reputable streets of Zygerria. Women dressed similarly to her were scattered around, and clubs illuminated in neon-lighting exactly the business of those who set foot on this street._

 _It didn't take that long for her to attract a customer: her skin and markings made her exotic to these bastards. The overweight, furry Zygerrian looked her up and down, leering at her womanly shape that hunger still had yet to pull away from her._

 _The very thought of doing what she was about to do filled Alexa with all kinds of disgust, hatred and self-loathing._

'I do what I must to survive,' _flickered through her mind._

 _She forced a smile onto her face, and pulled the disgusting man backwards into the alley she had come from._

#############################################################################################

 _Alexa was acutely aware of the contemptuous stares laid upon her as she strode into the bounty-hunter's office, grizzled hunters scattered around exchanging stories. Her twin swords rested by her sides, over the light armour she wore. She clasped the end of a sack in her right hand, the lump of her cargo visible over her back._

 _She ignored the stares, and stopped before the desk of the head of the office. The fat Zygerrian had his black boots up on the desk, and he regarded her with harsh mirth in his eyes._

" _What d'you want kid?" he said._

" _I'm here to collect the bounty on Vahdar Carack," she replied. He laughed in her face, echoed by a number of his patrons._

" _Look, what are you? Eighteen? Maybe you ain't got the knowledge of how it works round here. You want to claim a bounty you need either proof, or a reputation that means you don't need it. You ain't got either. So run along, and stop wasting my time." The hunters around the room laughed at her as he spoke in that condescending tone. Alexa didn't take her eyes off the man as she slung the sack from her shoulder, and pulled out its contents. She slammed the bloody head of the Rodian down onto the desk, splattering the congealing crimson right by the man's boots._

" _That proof enough for you?" Alexa said simply._

 _The laughter stopped._

 **A/N: And there's another chapter knocked out, don't even know the word count anymore. Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Time to meet the Jedi council. Also, Bastila's look in this is inspired by the work of Corbin Hunter/Elucidator on deviantart: ( fs70/i/2014/008/e/0/bastila_shan_by_ ).**

Chapter Seven

Somewhat absent-mindedly Alexa rubbed the back of her head, sitting up on her bed. Her location registered slowly in her mind: the Ebon Hawk. The ship they had stolen from that criminal on Taris.

"Oh hey, you're awake," said a chirpy female voice to Alexa's right. She squinted against the light of the cabin at Mission, sitting on a chair with some small pieces of tech in her hands. "I was kinda worried about you for a bit, you kept muttering things in Mando."

"I do that," she groaned out, shifting herself sideways onto the edge of the bed. "How far are we from Dantooine?"

"Should be exiting the pipe in about twenty minutes, I was about to wake ya." Alexa grunted thanks, and slipped out of bed. Tentatively she did some stretches, applying use to her muscles at the start of the day.

"What exactly were you dreaming about?" Mission asked curiously, her focus mainly on her hands as she tinkered with the parts.

"Old memories," Alexa replied, touching her toes with one hand while she stretched the other out to the side.

"Mustn't have been very good ones, you were tossing and turning like mad."

"No, they weren't exactly happy ones," she replied, finally flexing her neck muscles, rolling her head around a bit. "I'm gonna step in the fresher, if anyone walks in fire a warning shot."

"Will do," the girl chuckled, her attention on an implement she was using to change something on a chip.

Feeling little due to the fact Mission was otherwise occupied, Alexa stripped out of her military-style under-clothes, laying them at the foot of her bed where she had left her clothes hours earlier. Stepping into the small cubicle at the end of the room, she pressed a button to set on the five minute cycle.

She gasped aloud as sonic waves battered her naked form, running her hands through her loose hair. Real water it may not have been, but it felt amazing to simply stand as she was bombarded with light noise that stripped all the dirt from her body. She caressed her pale skin, lightly trailing some of the patterns running down her form as she took in the clean feel.

"Hey, this is the girl's quarters; no men allowed. I have a rifle and orders to use it," Mission's voice broke her reverie, and she half-listened to the conversation beyond the fresher door.

"She asked to be told when we were nearing Dantooine." Carth, it would be him of course.

"She's in the fresher, so scoot. Go on fleet-boy." Alexa had to stifle a laugh at the teen's antics; she could imagine Carth standing defensively in the doorway, Mission's Echani rifle pointed right at him. "He's gone now, it's safe to come out," Mission called to her, and Alexa couldn't resist letting loose a chuckle of laughter. When was the last time she had simply been around a few friends? Hell when did she last even have friends? Not once in her time on the battlefield with the Republic, or in the strange memories her dreams loosed upon her was she ever simply in a state around family, content or otherwise at peace.

She lazily slapped the button to end the cycle on the fresher, and stepped out to where Mission was just putting away her rifle, obviously having trained it on Carth. She was about to step towards her bed and her clothes when none other than Bastila Shan turned the corner to the bunk-room. Alexa froze for a moment, suddenly conscious of the fact she was naked in front of the Jedi. Said woman was equally as frozen, staring at the nude warrior.

Alexa snapped out of her frozen state, moving to cover herself, not exactly as at ease as she had felt before Mission. Bastila was something very different, something she still needed to work out. The Jedi had locked out of her partial paralysis at much the same time, blushing heavily and turning around.

"I apologise, I had not… I, ah," Bastila sounded awkward, not a normal state for the aloof Jedi. "I had not realised you were indisposed as such." Alexa cursed silently in her mind as she swiftly pulled on her underwear, and started shuffling into her clothes.

"You're acting like you've never seen a woman before," Mission said amusedly from her seat, now twiddling with a small motor. "Never looked down in the fresher before?"

"Well, naturally I have, err, but that is to say it is, I am…" hearing the woman stumble and stutter in any other situation might have been funny, if only it weren't this damned awkward.

"It's not your fault Bastila, its Kang's for having something against the concept of doors," Alexa said, feeling more comfortable once she slipped her belt and coat on, fully dressed.

"'S' probably because most of his grunts are men; they don't tend to care much about this sorta situation," Mission added distractedly as she set about the electronics in her grasp.

"Its fine, things happen. Besides not like it's the first time anyone's ever seen me naked, Republic army dorms tend to be open plan. Moving backwards, what did you come here to say?" Alexa said as she attached her weapons back where they belonged.

"Oh, of course. I, I came to say thankyou; since I realised I hadn't said so for your help in rescuing me from those despicable gang-members."

"Not a problem," Alexa replied, smiling at the Jedi. While she didn't expect or require it, it was nice to be thanked for something.

"That may be, but I also wished to apologise for how I may have been…snappy at you." Alexa was slightly taken aback by the apology, that was the last thing she had expected.

"Thankyou," she replied sincerely. "I understand; you're used to being in command, and then this whole situation. Stress gets to the best of us."

"The war weighs down upon us all," Bastila agreed, nodding her head slightly. "I find it to be a constant battle. But you rarely show such things; you make it all seem so effortless." Alexa considered the statement, thinking back to all the fighting she had done, the battlefields she had stepped onto.

"I'm a warrior trained; I've seen plenty of battles, of war. Doesn't mean I don't feel the stress, just means I know how to deal with it. Now, how far are we from Dantooine?" Alex walked past Bastila into the rest of the ship, heading for the cockpit, noting that the Jedi followed her.

"I believe we're about to come out of hyperspace," she replied.

When the pair reached the cockpit, Carth was standing by the Nav computer, checking the timing no doubt. Alexa and Bastila slid into their seats simultaneously, whereupon Alexa started powering up the sub-light drives again after six hours of inactivity.

"Hey, I'm still the pilot you know," Carth objected as Alexa flicked a few more buttons and switches.

"My ship, my rules fleet-boy," she responded, not particularly paying attention.

"Who said it's your ship?" he protested.

"I did, just now, feel like contesting that ownership?" she threw back over her shoulder.

"Hey, we out the pipe yet?" came the cheery voice of Mission, who must have shuffled around Carth as her arms soon rested on the back of Alexa's seat. Coinciding with her question, the streaking light of hyperspace faded away to reveal a blue planet before them.

What was a slightly less welcome sight were two Republic striker-class fighters headed straight for them.

"Where's the open comms," Alexa muttered to herself as she attempted to find the switch as the pair circled up and around them, foils moving into attack formation.

"Here," Bastila said, reaching up above her own station to a spot on the roof. Immediately the cockpit was filled with the commands of one of the fighters.

"I repeat, identify yourselves or we will open fire," came a male voice, military sounding.

"This is Captain Alexa… Varos," Alexa nearly slipped and said Fett, that probably wouldn't help in this situation, "of the grand army of the Republic. I'm escorting Jedi Bastila Shan back to the Jedi enclave down below."

"Do you have any method of proving your identification?"

"Surely the fact that a Jedi is aboard is enough?" Bastila said.

"If you have a way of proving it."

"Jedi are not accustomed to carrying proof around other than our lightsabers."

"Well then I will have to escort you to the Republic base for processing."

"Hey, this is Commander Carth Onasi, auth code A-1-7-9-Alpha-6-Alpha-2-2," Carth barked over their shoulders. There was a significant pause as the pilot doubtless entered the data to check against records.

"Thankyou Commander Onasi, you are cleared for landing." With that the comms line cut, and the fighters swooped back to position in the atmosphere. Alexa put the nose down and boosted them forwards, descending to the surface. She could tell Carth was smirking behind her, the slightly smug air of triumph.

"Still my ship, fleet-boy," she quipped.

Carth said nothing as Alexa took them down beneath the atmosphere, skimming in the skies above rolling hills and plains of grass.

"It's beautiful," Mission whispered.

"It's mainly a planet of farmers, largely untouched by war," Bastila said, "the sights can be fairly stunning by sunset, though kath hounds can be rather aggravating."

As the squat building of the Jedi enclave loomed on the horizon, Alexa slowed the ship, and spun her around. Carefully she lowered it into the small space-port in the centre of the building, setting them down without the slightest bump. Switching the engines off and lowering the ramp, she stood up.

"If you like the look of it so much Mission, fancy seeing it for yourself? The Jedi council is probably going to want to speak to Bastila rather than us lot, so I think we've got some time."

"Seriously?" Mission said, beaming.

"Would I lie to you?" Alexa replied in a teasing tone. This girl brought out a lot of different things in Alexa.

"I would imagine they will also wish to speak to you, if at least to thank you," Bastila said to the pair.

"They'll have to know what happened first, and explaining that will take you some time," she responded, practicality of mind setting in.

"Is this you indulging Mission or indulging yourself?"

"Bit of both," she smirked, and walked out of the cockpit, back through the ship. Zaalbar was to be found snoring in a chair by the holo-desk, and Alexa couldn't bring herself to wake the sleeping wookie. Canderous however was in one of the cargo bays, examining a sophisticated swoop bike, one that was professionally made rather than slapped together by a gang. He was being helped in his examination by TeeThree.

Satisfied that no-one else would be coming with them, Alexa stepped down the loading ramp, followed by Bastila and Mission. Standing in front of the pale, cream walls of the area to welcome them was a green-skinned twi'lek man, in Jedi robes.

"Bastila, welcome back to Dantooine, we feared you were lost on Taris," he said warmly, completely ignoring Mission and Alexa, not that Alexa expected such of an aloof Jedi master.

"Thankyou Master Zhar, it is good to be back," Bastila replied, bowing serenely.

"The council wishes to speak to you immediately." ' _Called it_ ' Alexa thought silently. "Though perhaps you may wish to change first." There was something that confused Alexa, what was wrong with Bastila's current outfit? Personally she thought the woman looked rather good in that brown leather, and it was certainly a lot less restrictive when fighting than those robes.

"Of course master Zhar," Bastila turned to face her. "I shall see you all later I presume?"

"Me and Mission will be outside the enclave if you need us," she replied, looking down at the still smiling twi'lek. Bastila nodded, and walked off with the Jedi master.

"I think the exit is this way," Alexa said to Mission, starting down some steps that entered into a small courtyard, a tree at its centre.

"Hey you, why are you out of your robes?" a woman called to them, stopping the pair. She walked up, red-haired and wearing the robes of a padawan. "Do you seek to tarnish the sterling reputation of our order?" Alexa looked at the woman in surprise, this woman believed her to be a Jedi who wasn't wearing their beloved robes.

"I'm not a Jedi," she said simply, amused by the situation.

"But, your presence in the force is undeniable…" the woman trailed off slightly.

"Is she carrying a lightsaber?" Mission pointed out by her side.

"No. I apologise for my presumption, I believed you were one of our order."

"Not a problem," Alexa replied amusedly. "I'll take it as a compliment. Now I don't suppose you could point us towards the exit?"

"Certainly, it's just down that corridor. May the force be with you," the woman walked off with a slightly embarrassed air.

"Come on, let's go," Alexa said to Mission, leading the way towards the enclave's exit.

#############################################################################################

The warm breeze lightly caressed Alexa's face as she sat back in the shade, against the knobbly bark of a tree. The lone plant sat solemnly atop a hill, from which Alexa had a perfect view of Mission darting about to look at wildlife.

For a girl who had grown up in a city, rarely seeing daylight and the sky above, let alone greenery, the lush landscape of Dantooine was entirely new. She had never even seen grass before, and right now she appeared to be lying in it, feeling the slightly damp blades beneath her back. Alexa took some pleasure in watching the girl discover all these new things her senses had never known before.

Alexa squinted against the rays of the sun, and sat up as Mission ran up the hill towards her.

"Look at this!" she squealed, cradling a red wildflower in her hands.

"Nature at its finest," she remarked amusedly. "You should see what some people do with gardens, whole beds of flowers, twisting pathways through vines and trees."

"I always heard tales of gardens and stuff about the people in the up city," Mission said, settling down besides Alexa to gaze up at the sky.

"I suppose they would have been the ones to have the space and the spare time," she commented, looking down at the valleys and forests on the horizon. "I always wanted a garden," she said wistfully, getting lost in old sections of her mind from when she was very young, "to be able to walk amongst the flowers on a summer's day."

"Well there goes the tough warrior act you were keeping up," the twi'lek said gleefully, Alexa laughed, letting the free sound bubble up from within. She hadn't felt this relaxed since… well, long enough ago that she couldn't remember. "Do you ever think of settling down somewhere?"

"I've never really thought about it," Alexa replied honestly, considering the question. "I've always been… busy I suppose, trying to survive, or fighting a war. The idea of having a home is…"

"Alien?"

"Yeah, I've never really had somewhere to call home."

"Me neither."

"Well, maybe I'll consider it once this war is done and over with."

"What are we doing about that by the way?" Mission turned to stare at her. "You going to go wherever the Republic sends you?"

"I…I'm not that sort of person, I don't even remember why or when I joined the army," Alexa's eyes closed as she considered herself and her path. "I'm not exactly a fan of the Republic, with all their bureaucracy, and the Senate never doing anything but arguing. So long as Coruscant stands the Senate couldn't care less."

"If you don't like the Republic, why do you fight for them?"

"Because they're the lesser of two evils. You saw the bombardment of Taris, the Sith are burning their way through the galaxy with no care for what happens once the war is done or what they're leaving behind. Malak has absolutely no plans beyond conquering known space, ruling it all; he has no idea how to hold an empire. He'd be the worst kind of dictator, letting his governors and his armies do as they care, and bring the galaxy to its knees, the whole infrastructure crumbling. I fight for the innocent people who would suffer if the Sith were allowed to move unchecked."

"Heroic cause," Mission remarked as Alexa finished her speech.

"There's no such thing as heroes, and if there were, I wouldn't be one."

"So what are you then?"

"A warrior with a war to fight."

They sat together as the Sun reached its blazing zenith in the sky, enjoying the day and simple companionship. It was not for a long while until a figure appeared from behind them.

"Here you are," said Bastila, stepping into Alexa's line of sight. She looked up as the Jedi blotted out the Sun, light sweeping past her robed form. She certainly looked different, her hair more carefully braided, and the sleek cream cloth covering her form, overlaid with light, flexible golden armour, with swept back vambraces, layered cuisse and an artful cuirass. It was very different to the long, heavy robes most Jedi wore that were completely impractical in a fight. The clothes combined with her regal features and framing in golden light made her look practically angelic as Alexa gazed up at her. "The council wishes to see you."

"Really?" Alexa replied half interestedly, her attention more focused on Bastila herself.

"Can they wait another hour?" Mission asked somewhat sadly.

"It is unwise to keep them waiting," Bastila replied as Alexa pulled herself to her feet. She then offered a hand to the slightly disappointed young twi'lek who took it, getting up off the soft grass.

"Well, time to go meet the mighty Jedi council then," Alexa said, rolling her limbs around to bring some life into them.

Together the trio set off away from the lush hillside.

#############################################################################################

"I am master Vandar, these are masters Dorak and Vrook." The small green being introduced his fellow council members slowly, taking each word with care. "Wish to thank you, we do, for your brave actions rescuing padawan Shan."

"Not a problem," Alexa replied, flashing a small smile at Bastila. "I did what I felt right to do."

"Told us of your skills, Bastila has." Vandar's word order was a little odd, requiring her to think to put together the meaning of a sentence. "Force sensitive, she believes you are."

"So I've been told again today, apparently my presence is 'undeniable,'" she said, slightly wary of the situation.

"It is blatantly obvious to anyone who stands near you," Bastila added.

"That may be, but it doesn't mean that it's a good thing," the old man, Vrook, chimed in.

"Analysing your special case we have been," Vandar said, ignoring the comments.

"What do you mean?" Alexa replied, watching the small being's face carefully.

"We have decided that while you are far older than any normal applicant, due to the circumstances and your undeniable potential, you are to be offered a place in the order," Dorak said proudly. Alexa stood somewhat stunned by the proclamation. The idea was not one she had any desire to follow.

"No," she said simply, causing everyone in the room to stare at her incredulously.

"To join the Jedi order is a great honour, and for one so old it is an occasion for the histories!" Dorak spluttered out.

"Well it's an 'honour' that I don't want," she said clearly, enunciating each word carefully.

"As a soldier in the Republic army you are able to be ordered to join us!" Vrook said.

"And if you choose to do so I will leave said army. I have no wish to join an order that sits on their thrones spouting rhetoric and sayings about the knowledge of the Force rather than doing anything."

"How dare you insinuate such things about our order," Vrook cried.

"I don't insinuate anything. Where were you as Cathar burnt? Have you practised your preaching of helping the masses on poverty stricken planets like Taris? On that planet alone, just a few of your warriors could help keep the peace, and your healers could find a cure for the rakhghoul plague in six months, but did you ever choose to do so? And what about slavery? You preach of the evils of the Sith and the dark side, yet ignore the very real evils that exist in the here and now. An effort by the Jedi order could have ended galaxy wide slavery in a few years, but have you ever moved against them? And furthermore I refuse to join any order which forbids me from feeling emotion, a base part of being sentient," the Jedi around her, Bastila included, looked stunned at her speech, while she could sense the agreement from Mission where she stood by the door. "No, I'll take my life as the warrior I am, live, love and die on my own terms."

"Alexa consider for a moment-," Bastila started, but was swiftly cut off.

"Bastila, those are my beliefs, and nothing will change them. No-one dictates my life and how I should live it. Never again."

"You would stand here and insult the Jedi order?" master Vrook actually looked properly angry, which was not something you saw on a Jedi particularly often.

"Can you deny any of the things I've said? They're all facts, not insults. You cannot order me to become a Jedi, and I will not become one willingly."

"Calm yourselves, all this anger, help us it does not," Vandar said, the diminutive character commanding the room. "Choose you would, to reject the offer of the order?"

"Yes," she replied promptly, there was no doubt in her mind.

"Then that, your decision is. However, as a warrior will you accept training in the ways of the force?" Alexa considered the question carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"Learn you can, how to wield the force, even if a Jedi you choose not to be."

"I'm not going to sit around and be taught all your beliefs about not being ruled by anger and such." This just sounded like an opportunity to enforce their ways upon her.

"That is not what I suggested. Offering we are, to train you to wield the force, no matter what you choose to do. To not would waste your potential."

Alexa actually thought about the offer for a good long moment. Flickering through her mind was images of Bastila when she fought, twirling her twin golden blades of death, or pushing her limbs to great athletic grace aided by the force, or the abilities some force-wielders had. Her body tingled as she recalled the lightning the dark Jedi had thrown at her.

"Okay, I'll accept. But on one condition."

"Condition?" Vrook said, still not entirely calm.

"Yes, that Bastila is the one to train me." The room stilled at her request, and eyes turned to the young Jedi.

"She's just a padawan," Vrook objected.

"There's no 'just' about it from the way I've seen her fight, and I trust her to not try and indoctrinate me." Alexa stood firmly, feet planted, her stance obviously giving off the fact that she would not budge.

"I…I have not even completed my training myself," Bastila said, sounding somewhat stunned.

"This is against most every tradition," said Dorak, sounding aghast.

"It's my condition, take it or leave it," Alexa said firmly.

"Then that, your choice is. However, need you shall, help from master Zhar if wish to wield a lightsaber you do, padawan Shan does not know more advanced technique," Vandar replied.

"Thankyou but I don't think I'm going to need help on wielding a lightsaber."

"Arrogance! A lightsaber is far different from those swords you have," Vrook stated, still not done it seemed.

"Actually she can use one, I've seen it already," Bastila remarked.

"Anyway, I think we're done here?" Alexa said, concentrating on the small Vandar.

"Indeed," the small being replied grudgingly, regarding her warily.

"In that case," Alexa turned to face the brunette Jedi, "I leave myself in your hands."

#############################################################################################

"That's it, perfect."

Alexa allowed herself a small smile at Bastila's compliment, but retained her focus upon the dozen or so rocks orbiting her body at that time. The afternoon sun beat down upon them as Alexa sat once more upon the same hill by the tree. The few hours had been spent as Bastila taught her concepts of the Force, each of which Alexa picked up instinctively quickly.

"You're a natural force wielder, it surprises me that you were not selected by the order at birth."

"Well…" Alexa grimaced slightly, the rocks' orbits wavering slightly. "I wasn't born in the sort of place Jedi frequent."

"Your birth should still have created ripples in the force, enough to be sensed by the Jedi masters. Where were you born exactly?" Alexa stayed very quiet for a long moment before replying.

"Somewhere I'd very much like to forget about," was all she said, effectively ending the conversation.

"Is that where you received your brand?" Bastila's question made Alexa freeze, the rocks around her dropping to the grass with soft thuds, her eyes flashing slightly with flitting emotions.

"How do you…" Alexa trailed off as she remembered the incident that morning when she had left the fresher, of all the parts of her Bastila noticed why did it have to be _that_? From some recesses of her mind memories flitted back of Zygerria and her long years of hardship she was still in the process of piecing together. Abruptly she stood up and looked back towards the Jedi enclave, and started striding towards it. She paused only once as she passed where Bastila sat cross-legged, staring at her in a concerned fashion.

"Yes," she muttered in answer, before tearing her gaze back to her destination. Right hand clasped in a fist where the Jedi could not see it.

#############################################################################################

The walk to the enclave was all too short, and by the time she was in the corridors Alexa was no closer to being calm. Of course it was at that moment that she passed a room full of about seven teenage padawans and a master, and the voice of one vaguely familiar twi'lek called out.

"Captain Varos, if you will," the serene man called. Zhar she remembered his name was.

"Now is not the best moment," she replied curtly, but still stopped outside the doorway and turned to the twi'lek.

"The force has seen fit to have you be near as I begin to teach a class the finesse of a lightsaber," he said calmly, as if she was simply another padawans among their damn order.

"As I told your council," she emphasised the word 'your' as she glared at him, "I am perfectly capable of wielding weaponry."

"Nonsense, a lightsaber requires precision, and training. It is nothing like a normal sword."

"Look, I could wipe the floor with you and your class at the same time, I've seen battlefields and I know how to wield a damn lightsaber."

"Pride and arrogance are the ways of the Sith, take care of your words." He admonished, as if she were some child being reprimanded.

"It's not pride if it's true," she almost growled. Fine, if he wanted to goad her, she needed to blow off some steam. "Right, how about this?" From her coat pockets she pulled out the two lightsabers she had taken from the fallen Sith, igniting their twin red blades simultaneously. Some of the padawans flinched at the red glow, obviously associating the colour with the Sith. As if colour mattered, a weapon was a weapon to Alexa. "Challenge me on my boast, right here, right now. If you win, I'll take your damn training. If I win, you leave me alone."

The padawans all looked to Zhar, who now looked slightly awkward as he gazed upon her tensed form.

"Be wary of your anger, it w-"

"I'm not one of your damn padawans," she cut him off, "so don't treat me like one. Now get out your lightsaber _Jedi_."

A feral grin crept its way across her features as he slowly looked her up and down, then took out his lightsaber and lit the green blade. Around the room the seven padawans slowly followed suit, the chamber being lit up in different colours.

Alexa swiftly pulled her twin blades up to shine in front of her eyes, before flicking them down to the side as per duelling tradition. Zhar repeated the gesture, and the padawans hastily complied as well. Without further warning Alexa leaped forward.

The closest person was a male human, who brought up his purple blade to meet her aggressive right slash. A second swipe from her left parried his blade out of the way, and a quick kick to his leg brought a cry of pain to his lips. Immediately her right blade was pressed close to his neck, and Alexa held eye contact with the padawan, relishing the fear in his eyes at how quickly she had defeated him.

Tearing herself from him she spun to catch a green blade from above, its female twi'lek wielder twisting its curved handle once it contacted in an attempt to go for her head. Alexa twisted herself under the hissing beam, and brought her left sabre round to hit with force in the same direction the twi'lek was slashing. The green bladed weapon was ripped from its owner's shocked hands, and the red blade in front of her nose made her catch her breath. Alexa looked only once into her eyes before she felt her next attacker.

A blue blade aimed for her chest was swiped to the side with her left sabre, while her right went up to catch a second green one. Alexa backed off a step to consider her adversaries, two human females, twins, dark skinned and serious-faced as one went left, while the other went right. Instead of parrying the blows, Alexa ducked underneath, twisting between the women while turning, pushing them each to the side and coming up facing them with her back to a wall. As they turned to face her, gaining their bearings, they were backed up by a male zabrak with light yellow markings, matched by a yellow blade.

Her mind calculated quickly, and she leapt back to the wall, pushing off with her feet to twist in the air horizontally as she dropped towards the floor. With a twist of her mind she brought her right fist down to the duracrete floor and _pushed_ at the force, creating a ripple of energy in a concentrated area that bowled the trio over, each losing their weapon as they fell.

Alexa quickly straightened up to consider her remaining foes. A wookie and another male human stood by, while Zhar still watched from the back of the room watching warily. Most likely trying to work out how she moved so he could use it against her: Sacrifice his allies, but gain information. Not that the information would be any use to him, Alexa specialised in staying unpredictable.

She advanced towards the pair of padawans, allowing them to make the first move. The man moved first, with a battle-cry of effort no-less, lashing strikes out at her which she easily parried. He didn't even attempt to use any type of form, just slashing indiscriminately. A swipe of her right blade to the side took his weapon to safety, and a swipe with her foot took his balance. She hit his head with the back of her left hand as he went down.

Finally she squared off against the wookie, who twirled his sabre warily, his stance taking the back-step position of the defensive Djem-So form.

She strode to him and placed both her blades upon his purple one, in an 'X', and pushed hard against him, causing him to stagger despite the teen's height advantage over her. As he fought for a foothold, she parried his blade away with her right, and gave him a strong punch around his heart with her left. The towering wookie fell back to the floor, looking up at her, an unfathomable expression in his eyes.

Finally, Alexa turned to the twi'lek master. Zhar stood there waiting patiently, but his eyes betrayed his apprehension. She also knew he thought he had her style figured out, so he was unprepared when she switched her left blade into backhand and launched at him with the Ataru form, pushing him back several steps as he tried to counter her fast slashes. Just as he was trying to form a defence, she moved smoothly into Djem So, her blades in synch like one single weapon as she swiped at the twi'lek's abdomen, the attack barely being parried by the green blade. Before he could do anything she changed into Juyo, aiming high and low, forcing back across the room she had previously crossed.

Changing once more into a Mandalorian style with flipping her left blade to the fore again, she smiled at him, and in his eyes glimmered the final comprehension she was toying with him. As she noticed comprehension dawning on him, she flicked her left blade down to his hand, and burned the flesh lightly, just enough that forced him to drop the weapon. She quickly followed up with a harsh kick on his abdomen that had the Jedi master falling on his rear. Like lightning Alexa stepped forward, and allowed her blade to hover by the master's unprotected neck.

It would be easy, so easy to push that blade down and end the aloof man's life. Fear showed in the man's dark eyes, and Alexa suddenly became aware of her pounding heart and quick breaths, stepping back slightly, she surveyed the room, where the padawans were still picking themselves up off the floor and regarding her warily.

Slowly, she flicked off her blades, and looked with dark eyes to the twi'lek at her feet.

"Until the next time, master Jedi."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: The cave in this chap is described as it is because I find it hard to believe the in game location not a minute's walk from the enclave would have never been investigated over a thousand years or so.**

 **Updated with end to chapter.**

Chapter Eight

 _Flashing lights flickered in front of Alexa as red blade once more duelled yellow. The Jedi-Bastila her mind added-was shouting something, but the words were lost through the dulled quality of what she saw. Her opponent, cloaked in black robes overlaid with light armour, made no visible reply._

 _There was something different this time however; Alexa was consumed by the overwhelming feeling of not being alone._ Someone _was here with her in this murky dream state, a familiar presence she couldn't quite place._

 _Slowly the scene shifted away, and she was instead floating somewhere over what she knew to be the plains of Dantooine, moving forward into an open cave entrance to reveal two figures. First was a bald, pale skinned man with blue markings on his head, wearing light red armour, with a lightsaber clipped neatly to his belt. The second was shrouded in brown Jedi robes, though not entirely hiding her feminine figure, twin lightsabers her only other identifier. Some of the murkiness of the dream cleared, and she heard them speak as she once more felt the presence come to rest beside her._

" _The ancient Jedi sealed this place before their records even began," the man said, running his hand over what Alexa realised was a wall of carved light stone, centring on a pattern in the very middle._

 _The woman didn't reply to her companion, instead reaching out a sleeve covered hand to the central circle of the wall's engraving. After a second, the wall split into four quarters, slipping sideways into the rock face to reveal a passageway before it, made up of blocks of the same off-white stone._

 _Across the room at that time, she heard a whisper, not of the time or place, but from the one she was watching this with._

"Alexa," _it whispered with a familiar, female voice._

"Bastila _," Alexa replied, recognising her as the scene began to fade. Something more was said as she was pulled away from the cave and into blackness._

#############################################################################################

Waking up, Alexa was covered in a cold sweat, her breathing harsh as she sat up on her bunk on the Ebon Hawk. How the hell was _Bastila_ of all people inside her dreams? It sounded like insanity, but she had heard and felt the Jedi woman with her, and those Jedi in that cave. Was that her own memory or something else entirely?

As quietly as she could, Alexa slipped from her bunk and got dressed, making sure not to disturb the sleeping twi'lek across the room. However, she left her vibro-weapons: she had no need of the weapons with two lightsabers in their place.

Walking through the ship to the rear boarding ramp, she _felt_ almost that she knew Bastila would be waiting as she opened the hatch. True to her senses, the Jedi was waiting, looking slightly flustered.

"I have never, in all my time with the order heard of the like," she said, stepping up the ramp. "You saw it all as well, didn't you?"

"Aye, what just happened exactly?"

"I don't know. Where were you when it started?"

"Asleep, in my bunk. What about you?"

"I was meditating on, ah," Bastila looked slightly embarrassed, to which Alexa raised an eyebrow. "Well, you," she continued. "I was thinking on how to approach you on this afternoon's 'incident'."

"Incident?" Alexa replied confusedly.

"You attacked a room of padawans," Bastila stated, looking oddly at her.

"I offered a challenge, which Zhar accepted, but that's not important right now. What we know is you were concentrating on me; I was dreaming and, well, what? You invaded my dreams?"

"Firstly they would seem more like visions, and secondly how do you know if it's not the other way around?"

"I've seen the first before, of you fighting…" the name was on the tip of her tongue, she knew who the other character was.

"Darth Revan," Bastila answered, "on the bridge of the Sith flagship before Malak opened fire." _Revan_. The Jedi general turned Sith who went from eliminating the Mandalorian threat, to attacking the Republic with a suddenly amassed fleet.

"Right," Alexa confirmed, her mind whirling. "But the other one was _here_ , on Dantooine."

"How do you know?"

"I just do, it's a cave a few klicks East."

"We should inform the council of this."

"No, we need to go there. I can feel it, the information we need is there." Somewhere from that dream, or vision, she felt the imperative to go to this place, to know. Alexa started for the cargo bay, where the swoop bike rested.

"But they said it was sealed away by the Jedi, that would be for a good reason." Bastila followed her into the small bay, gliding across the metal floor.

"I'm not a Jedi." Alexa replied, pressing a button to lower the bay to the ground, before jumping into the bike, settling herself into the drivers' seat. "You can either stay and inform the council, or come with me and get some answers. Up to you." Alexa looked at Bastila as the Jedi stood, torn between the need to report the strange happenings, and the want to know what this all meant.

After a long second, the Jedi slipped in, and Alexa powered up the engine. It was time to get some answers.

#############################################################################################

The warm light of dawn was showing itself as the swoop wove its way through the grassy fields of Dantooine. Alexa squinted as light flooded the landscape, searching for what she knew had to be close by.

"Over there," Bastila said, breaking the silence that had existed since they set off. Alexa followed the direction the Jedi had pointed in and saw the jagged black cave entrance in a small cliff-side. Pulling the swoop up next to it, she stopped the engine.

As one, the pair slid out of the bike, and strode in-time to the cave entrance. True to their vision, the cave extended a small distance before being blocked off by the cream stone doorway, engraved with its twisting patterns.

"This is old, ancient even." Bastila said in wonder, surveying the stone.

"It was probably a building once, which this hill grew over with time," Alexa replied, instead concentrating on the central circle. She placed her hand on he symbol, and extended her senses outwards, _into_ the wall. Within she found a mechanism, with a simple trigger that she pushed at with the force. Slowly, and with a great grinding noise, the wall split into four, moving aside for them to pass.

Together they stepped into a darkened room beyond, old lights flickering in the corners in response to their presence. The room was rectangular, with a wide door layered with metal bolts in front of them, and a door less exit to either side. In the dead centre of the room, a dilapidated black droid slowly powered up, its head lifting to look at them.

It chittered in a strange dialect, before the language switched to basic.

"-Systems rebooted, 60% failure on memory systems, motion servos non-functional."

"Hello?" Bastila questioned hesitantly. The droid's sputtering red eyes turned on her.

"Two visitors, one human female, one unknown species female. Both genetic keys match positive. Welcome to- Error, data lost."

"What are you?" Bastila inquired once more.

"Designation: IE Service droid 8-0-4-5-9. Left here by the –error, redacted- as keeper of the doors."

"Why would the doors need a keeper?" Alexa asked, something felt strange beyond the doors, a light ripple within the force.

"To certify the challenges are completed prior to entry."

"What challenges?" Bastila inquired, "what even is this place." The droid whirred for a moment before answering.

"Challenges must be completed to certify entry."

"It's not programmed with anything more than that," Alexa said, looking at the exits to each side. "I think the only way to find anything out, is to complete these challenges." The Jedi stared intently at the droid, before wordlessly making for the left hand exit. Alexa followed her into a long corridor, flickering lights flashing over the regal woman's face.

Beyond was a tall room, and as each of them inclined their heads upwards to look, there was a slight drop in the floor under them. Gears ground loudly in the walls, groaning from misuse. A door dropped down behind where they had entered, making them spin. Alexa reached out a hand to press against it, and feel for the mechanism in the force.

"There's a complex system of weights keeping it down," she murmered before her concentration was broken by more clanking. Around them on each wall, pillars and bars began sliding out from the flat surface. They didn't stop, constantly moving around to create what looked like an animated obstacle course.

"Up there," Bastila stated, pointing to where in the medley of moving pillars a lever was just visible by the ceiling.

"Right, we'll just need to get up there," Alexa replied, stroking her chin as she regarded the system, mapping the patterns and chartering a way up in her mind. She blinked as a golden shape flashed in one part, before her eyes caught up to the sight of Bastila jumping and flipping from place to place as she worked her way upwards. She moved back to stand against the wall as she surveyed the Jedi's performance of acrobatic ability, tracing her agile form intently. **A/N: updated from here**

Watching Bastila jump and fling herself from beam to beam was a show of amazing acrobatics, and Alexa found her higher brain functions shut down in lieu of watching the fluid grace of the Jedi. When she reached the top with a final, artful flip to press a hand to the panel, all the shifting stopped, and a clear stairway down moved into shape at the same time as the door opened behind them.

When the woman walked back down and out of the room, Alexa found herself blinking before hurrying after her. She couldn't think of quite another time she'd been so…captivated.

She caught up to Bastila standing by the droid as it gave its verdict.

"One task completed, one remains uncompleted. Both tasks must be completed prior to entry," it mechanically stated.

"I'm aware of that," the regal Jedi replied, turning towards the other doorway.

Once again, as they stepped through, the door slammed shut behind them. This room was somewhat different, an ancient looking computer console rested in front of three metal poles pointing up. Curiously, Alexa stepped over to the computer and pressed a few buttons experimentally. The screen lit up after a few moments, showing several green characters of an unrecognizable language. It stayed like that for a few seconds before the letters changed, though it was still indecipherable. When it changed for a third time however, she recognized it.

"That's Manaan, though fairly ancient looking," Alexa said to her companion, pressing a button to acknowledge that she understood the language. The machine seemed to process the answer for a moment before more text appeared, as well as a series of glowing rings on the left hand pole. With interest, Alexa read through the instructions on the screen before leaning back and rubbing her chin.

"What does it say?" Bastila inquired.

"It's a logic test," she explained, "move all the rings to the right hand pole, and never move a ring above another one, only below or else the system will short circuit and release an electrical wave-no, surge, an electrical surge."

"Which means?"

"We pass the test or it kills us," Alexa replied calmly, resting her hands upon the buttons. It was with surety that she solved the simple test after a few moments. Once the rings were aligned it beeped, shut down the computer and re-opened the door. "I'm surprised whatever this is is protected by such a simple thing."

"Indeed," Bastila agreed as they walked back towards where the droid was waiting.

"The challenges are completed; door to –error, redacted- has been opened. Shutting down," with that, the withered old droid sagged, light fading from its eyes. As it had said though, the final door opened up, revealing a corridor beyond.

Curiously, the pair approached the space, which was lined in pictorials.

"I think, that this was a temple once," Alexa stated tentatively.

"To what, or whom?" Bastila inquired curiously.

"Whatever those are," the ravenette replied, pointing at an odd figure with circles either side of their head.

"Probably an old god from more primitive times," Bastila said firmly.

Their archaeological curiosity faded when they entered the room at the end of the corridor. Although it had a low ceiling, and was small, it was more impressive than the rest of the Temple. The murals had increased in number, and detail, depicting battlefields and more of the gods from the corridor. It was the centrepiece that was the main point of attraction however.

"Is that an altar?" Bastila asked, staring at the spike with three black sides to form a very tall pyramid.

"It looks more like a pedestal," Alexa replied.

"It feels wrong. Corrupted."

Alexa could somewhat agree with that, it was if it sucked in the Force from the local area and that it had…soured, and it was as if the shadows clung to whatever it was. Tentatively, she reached out a pale hand to touch it, immediately flinching back as her senses were filled with something other than what they should.

Playing through her head, like visions, were four different locations. Her brain thumped and she could feel the rush of blood and discomfort at the sensation before the images fled her mind, and she returned to where she really was.

"Did you see that as well?" Bastila asked breathlessly, to which Alexa merely nodded, cradling her aching head. What in the kriffing hell _was_ all this? Some part of her understood it though, for she knew what the thing in front of them was even as it began lowering its three arms.

"It's a star map," she stated, which was quickly confirmed as it finished opening and displayed a holographic sphere of blue, and several bright blips of light.

"This is the galaxy, but…half the planets and stars are missing." Alexa nodded at her companion.

"This, and four others, each with incomplete data, on different planets leading to something presumably. Whatever it was Malak and Revan were looking for, I guess."

"A cave, a jungle, an ocean, and a…tomb?"

"Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban," Alexa replied, going back to cradling her head as it ached significantly.

"How do you know?"

"The same way I knew where this cave was," 'Because it feels like I've been here before,' she left unsaid. The sense of déjà vu was killing her almost as much as the headache. "By the Force, my head!"

"Visions are often not kind to their recipient," Bastila moved over to her, looking deep into her grey eyes with her own startling blue. "You need rest."

"What I need is a decent night's sleep without kriffing interruptions from stupid…" she trailed off, her anger leaving as quickly as it arrived. What were her dreams? Visions perhaps, like those today. Why was she seeing her past in such a way though.

She was torn from such thoughts as she stumbled while walking towards the exit, quickly caught by the Jedi beside her.

"Come on, let's get to the speeder," the brunette said soothingly, helping her weak body along. Normally, Alexa felt she would have waved someone off rather than being seen as weak, but somehow she just didn't feel the need to with Bastila.

On the trip back to the enclave, Alexa woke only once from her slumber. When she did, she looked up from her place in the side seat to see Bastila looking intently forwards, the golden sun once more framing her head as it had the day before. With a smile, Alexa drifted back once more into the realm of sleep, absently watching the wind play with brown locks of hair.

 **A/N: Well, there's a chapter that took a year to write. May be laying it on a bit thick too early with Bastila x Alexa, but I'm not too good with subtlety really. Anyway, I'm going to be primarily updating TSAE rather than this, but I do have some of chapter nine written so it will be up at some point when I have the time to write it.  
**


End file.
